A Jellicle Vacation Gone Wrong
by skitternimble
Summary: The entire cast of CATS go to a mountain lodge to relax before starting the film. There, they meet the actual Jellicles they play, get snowed in, and total chaos insues. Please Review! Otherwise tracking down the cast and Jellicles for this was a waste.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Okay, this is my explanation of why the film was so freak'in good, and I'd love to hear feedback on what yall think of it.**

**And if you don't review this story, I will find every single one of you, whether you're in Australia or Switzerland, Louisiana, or on the Jellicle Moon, and I will take away your copy of the film forever! Wahahahaha!**

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The snow lay in foot high drifts along the hills and pine forests, the sunlight reflecting off of it in the cold, clear mountain air. A lovely mountain lodge made of timbers, lay nestled on the outskits of the woods, mountains on both sides.

Little wifts of smoke rise from it's stone chimneys, the bright windows looking warm and enviting. Icicles hang from the eves of the building, light reflecting off of them from the windows, it almost looks like a giant ginger bread house.

Inside there are saunas and steam rooms, message therapists, room service, cable tv, and even a concert hall. Oh, what luxury!

The smell that rises in the air, of hot chocolate and warm comfort food, burning wood; all mixing with the smell of the pine forests, it's exactly what a mountain lodge should smell like.

Oh, Switzerland, so charming, so picturesque, so perfect for a relaxing vacation...yeah right.

This is where three weeks of absolute chaos took place. And it all begun thanks to everone's favorite playwright, Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Of course, he can't take all the credit, T.S. Eliot just had to follow his cat, Old Deteronomy, back to the old junkyard he liked to slip off to at night.

There, Sir Eliot found out about the Jellicles, and was allowed to be the first human witness to the secret lives cats live. He was allowed to witness a Jellicle Ball, he was allowed to interview and get to know the Jellicles that lived at that time, and with permission, he wrote poems about some of cats the junkyard mystics that lived at that time predicted would be born in the future, as well as the one about Old Deteronomy himself.

And the rest, as we all know it, is history.

The musical was the most famous, most successful, and longest running in Broadway history. I mean, come on, seven frick'in Tony Awards! And now they were going to adapt it to film.

Andrew and his crew had scoward the world for the perfect cast, and had found it. A cast of the greatest performers that they could get there hands on, some constantly in the show, others coming back into their old roles after being absent, oh, but it was such a great combination of stars.

Elaine Paige, Sir John Mills, Ken Page, Micheal Gruber, and many others who became famous because of the film, including favorites like Jacob Brent and John Partridge.

But how did they pull it all off so well? How did they all fall into their roles so convincingly, that it seemed they weren't just acting as the characters, they became the characters?

It's all because of that dang ski trip that Sir Webber insisted they all go on to get acquainted before filming began.

He figured it would be good for them to get to know each other before they started filming, but he also had a second agenda: meeting the actual cats they were playing.

Jacob meeting the real Mistoffelees, John meeting _the _Rum Tum Tugger, Michael meeting Munkustrap, and so on and so fourth.

So, with the permission of Old Deuteronomy, Andrew brought all the Jellicles in the musical to Switzerland, (with a bit of magic, of course, otherwise they'd have to deal with six month isolation when they got back to England), and rented a huge lodge for the entire cast and all the Jellicles to stay in. This way, they could intermingle without having to worry about dropping the Jellicle secret, as well as getting some much needed rest before filming began.

So this is the story of what happened, how the Jellicles met the actors playing them, the crazy stuff they did while hanging out together, but it's mostly the story of a vacation gone wrong in every possible, super excitingly fun way!

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**Please review, I really need ideas for crazy things the characters do while hanging out together. If you can think of something good, I'll put it in the story!**


	2. Arrival

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Please review, I really want to do make this a great fic, so I'd love to get some feedback.**

**And don't worry, I haven't obandoned my other fics, I'm just trying to spread out the stuff I'm writing so I can just write a chapter for one on a certain day, and then switch it up and do another chapter for a different story maybe two days later.**

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A strange figure trudged through the snow, weighed down heavily with duffle bags and water tight boots.

The person was very oddly dressed, wearing at least four layers of clothing plus scarves, gloves, earmuffs, and a very oversized hat. He was carrying at least three duffle bags on his back, making him appear even smaller in stature than normal as he plowed through a foot high snow drift, looking like someone had cut him off below the knees.

Underneath all of the padding was a very cold Jacob Brent, pink in the face and mad because he was supposed to have met up with the rest of the CATS company at the bus station.

_"Of course I would miss the bus,"_ he thought to himself indignantly, angry really at himself because being late meant walking through the snow to their lodge.

He was absolutely freezing, he was used to snow, but never_ this _much snow. It had to be at least ten below, or should I say at the most? Either way, the poor guy was freezing, despite all the snow gear, and he was pretty miserable as a result.

As he trudged up the hill and out of the pine forest that the road went through, the lodge finally came into sight. Sitting between the two mountains meant for skiing, the frozen lake behind it shimmering in the sunlight. Jake took off at what was supposed to be a run, looking like a big red puff ball running through the snow.

It turns out the bus hadn't driven away yet, since everyone had to get their stuff off of it first; and everyone was still unloading their stuff, the sight of which completely exasperated Jake as he finally reached the driveway and nearly collapsed from the cold and long walk.

"Hey, are you Jacob Brent?" asked a voice somewhere behind him.

At this Jake dropped his bags and turned around, coming face to face with John Partridge, a six-foot-four, muscled bound hottie from England who could steal any girls heart just by looking at them, but broke every one of them when he told the women who swooned after him that he was gay.

Jake didn't respond because he was just too cold to speak, John realizing this and giving one of his award winning grins. "Couldn't tell underneath all that padding, so what'cha think Andrew is up to, bringing us all up here like this?" he asked, pushing his sunglasses up over his eyes as he said this.

"He wanted everyone to meet and get to know each other, or something like that. Frankly, I'll take a free vacation any day," said Jacob in an offhand way, in too much of a hurry to get inside and out of the cold to pay much attention.

Of course, getting inside was easier said than done, since literally _everyone_ was this way and that to get their stuff. All bundled up and carrying backpacks and duffle backs, the performers were hurrying about, most of them just as bundled up as Jake, or at least the one's who weren't used to being in the mountains.

Elaine Paige was wearing a thick fur coat, and was shivering hard, stopping every few feets as she walked up the steps of the lodge to rub her hands together and blow into them.

Michael Gruber was almost unrecognizable under his parka, Drew Varley was sinking into a deep snow drift as he tried to carry his bag and Jo Gibb's bags (show off), and Bryn Walters was so frozen, he was being even more of an ass to everyone than normal. Be afraid.

As Jacob walked up the stairs, he gave a sigh to keep from laughing at the sight of Veerle Casteleyn, wearing a tight fitting coat and snow boats with leg warmers, skipping around in the snow like it was a field full of daisies in summer. _"Of course she's used to the cold, being from Belgium,"_ he laughed inside his head, figuring he should just accept the cold and try to enjoy himself.

After all, how many dancers get a three week vacation in the Swiss Alps?

By the time he got to the door and was trying to push it open despite his heavy luggage, John at his heels again, he was smiling at the thought of all that awaited them inside.

But as he stepped inside the huge lodge, his eyes didn't immediately dart to the roaring fire in the hearth, the huge staircases that went up four stories, the fine furniture and beautiful art, but instead landed on something on one of the couches.

It was a large, no not large, about Jake's own height actually, furry, black and white creature that looked exactly like... like...

"Mr Mistoffelees?"

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**Okay, so whatch'all think? Please Review!**

**And don't worry, this story is going to have lots of good twists and turn for a simple vacation story, I mean, get ready for things you won't expect!**


	3. Beautifully mad

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**I just wanted to apologize for not posting for so long, I only have three more days of High School left, and so I've been busy. I've also been trying to write another chapter of Sex, Drugs, and Munkustrap, but that's literally beating the crud out of me writing that, so it's pretty slow going.**

**Also, I'd like to say one thing before you read this, and that is to let you all know that I'm not that good at writing crowd scenes or scenes with lots of characters interacting at once. **

**I realize this chapter comes across as impersonal and glanced over, b****ut please don't let that deter you from continuing to read and review it, because I promise the rest of this story will be just as good as the first two chapters that lured you in, if not better!**

**In fact I'd love to get some advice on how to re-do or improve this chapter, just please don't say anything too nasty. Remember I love you guys!**

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Jacob's eyes went wide and he dropped all of his luggage on the floor, John coming to a sudden stop right behind him at the sight of what it was Jake was staring at.

The cat thing that was on the couch looked exactly like Mr. Mistoffelees, but even weirder, exactly like Jacob _as _Mr. Mistoffelees.

Although there were some differences, he did have real whiskers, but they were thin and not easily seen, he had retractable claws, fangs and barbs on his tongue, and what would be copied with leg and arm warmers on the costumes of the performers, on him was just thicker fur.

But this wasn't real, it couldn't be real, could it?

Jake started to wobble slightly, unable to keep his balance and eventually falling back, John Partridge barely reacting in time to catch him before he hit the floor.

Jake stared up at John for only a second though, before trying to pull himself up and face the _thing _on the couch, although it still hadn't spoken. But both men got a huge shock just moments later when it did.

"So I presume you're Jacob Brent and John Partridge?" he asked, in a calm voice so as not to scare the poor, timid humans.

Of course both were speechless, but their stunned silence was broken instantly as soon as the others started filing in, and then it seemed all hell broke lose.

The first ones to enter were Veerle and Philida, the latter going stiff as a board at the sight, but remaining relatively calm. Veerle, on the other hand, screamed and started shaking at the sight, convinced she had gone off the deep end and was hellucinating, yelling out questions and swear words in Dutch.

Of course her screams alerted everyone and they all started to file inside, only stopping short when they took in the scene of the Jellicle standing their awkwardly, who appeared to be too nervous to know what to do to help, while looking around frantically for anyone to come and calm the poor girl down.

The sight sent everyone into a flurry, some of them hitting the floor out cold, at least that's what happened to Elaine Paige, and strangely enough, Bryn Walters.

Others just dropped their bags and stared, some went into a frenzy, while others pointed like the cat standing in front of them was some circus freak.

Michael Gruber appeared to be so shocked he was paralyzed on his feet, but on his face their was a look of both shock and puzzlement, as if he were trying to rationalize this or figure out if this wasn't some kind of elaborate joke.

The ones who seemed to be taking it the best were of course Drew and Jo, who both looked at each other in confusion for a moment, looked back at the Jellicle and then at each other again, and then simply shrugged and decided to role with it.

But then a voice from the top of the stairs seemed to draw all the attention away from the poor Jellicle for a moment. "Oh good, you've already met one of them, that's just excellent, and I can see you're all taking it so well," said Andrew Lloyd Webber as if amused at the reaction, leaning against the banister wearing only a bath robe and slippers and smoking a pipe. Classy.

At his words all eyes were trained on him, including those of Mistoffelees himself. "One of them? We're not objects, you know," said Misto, sending the already panicking group into an absolute uproar.

_How dare that thing talk to Sir Andrew that way!_

"Well I thought I might just try and come across as casual about this whole situation, since your species shouldn't exist"-"Shouldn't exist? Explain why we shouldn't exist, but a species that is putting down over 4 million cats every year, not to mention dogs, has any right to continue living on this planet?" came the voice of an obviously angry cat, and who should step out but Cassandra, looking at Andrew with fierce eyes, her dainty tail curling around the banister of the stairs as she decended it.

She walked up to the still awkward Misto, who was trying to no evail to calm down the dancers and actors as he hesitated to get too close to them.

"Come on, we might as well," she said, pulling Misto as she did the absolutely most unexpected thing she could have possibly done at that moment: she walked right up to an actor, Ken Page, to be exact, and introduced herself to him.

"Hello, I'm Cassandra, it's nice to meet you. Aren't you...?" "Ken Paige," the man supplied in his sweet, deep voice. "Yes, and it's nice to meet you, Cassandra." He nodded politely and shook her hand as he said this, beaming at the cat and smiling warmly, as if deciding that this whole situation was something to be taken in stride.

The group was silent now as they watched, except for Veerle who was still shaking and didn't seem like she was going to calm down anytime soon.

As Cassandra made her way toward the poor girl, more Jellicles begun to come out, some having been waiting upstairs, others having simply been standing in the shadows of doorways or off to the side and out of sight.

It was like watching the forms of cats that had once been a part of the room, suddenly emerging and becoming something recognizable, as they seemed to come out of every dark corner, or from behind the furniture or under the stairs.

Shyly, a meek white face came out from behind a door, her amber eyes standing out against the shadows as Victoria inched toward the group, unsure of what to say as she had never met a human before.

At the top of the stairs appeared two older queens, both tabbies and both chattering happily until they came upon the scene of the Jellicles meeting the humans, both freezing in shock at the sight. Very obviously Jennyanydots and Jellylorum, looking at each other in confusion as they realized the humans were just as scared of them as they were of us.

A bright red queen, followed closely by two mischievious looking calicos, one male and the other female, came out from the kitchen area that was partly blocked from view by a bar and other counter tops, the red queen looking resigned as she made her way toward the humans, the calicos looking almost ecstatic as they hurried over to greet them.

John Partridge stared in awe, almost overcome with the totality of everything implied, as each Jellicle made an appearance, when out of nowhere a maned figure appeared.

Thumbs hooked in the corners of his belt, his sleek black fur darker than midnight against the luscious gold on his chest and mane and face. Those deep brown eyes that called queens to come hither.

The Rum Tum Tugger was exactly like him in stature and form, except for the mane and tail, or course, his presence seeming to make everything seem larger than life, making John feel humbled to be allowed to play him.

"They're not real, make them go away, they're not real!" stuttered Veerle repeatedly in her heavy accented voice, balling up on the floor and shivering as a circle formed around her as the people stepped out of the way to make room.

Mistoffelees and Cassandra approahced her cautiously as some of the other 'kitten girls,' tightened their grips on her shoulders, kneeling beside her to try and calm her down.

"Veerle," murmured Cassy in a sweet, gently voice, as she came close and knelt down next to her. "Would you like to meet Jemima?"

This question almost made the poor girl collapse, as she stared up at the elegant looking Jellicle who seemed to mean her no harm.

Almost all were silent now, even the nervous humans who were shocked and scared by the Jellicles, as they watched the shivering girl shyly reach out and touch Cassandra's hand, as a little calico queen who seemed to come out of nowhere slowly came forward.

"Hello..." ventured Jemima, sitting down as the others moved out of the way, Veerle turning and making the most pathetic 'eep,' noise anyone had ever heard. "I know we're strange, but we won't hurt you," she said in her sweet voice, trying to sound as genuine as possible, which was easy for her, since she was.

Slowly, Veerle got up on her knees and then stood up, Jemima gently taking her hand and helping her to her feet. The poor girl was still shaking, nervous around this Jellicle who was touching her, holding her.

But then she slowly looked at Jemima very closely, taking in her pretty face, her innocent bright eyes that conceal her sprity, impish nature... so much like her. Jemima brought her closer, looking at her with deep compassion, and whispered while looking Veerle right in the eye, "Ik begrijp," meaning "I understand," in perfect Dutch.

She stopped shaking, she couldn't bring herself to fear the Jellicle, and tears almost begun to well up in the corners of her eyes as she nodded, taking deep breaths to calm herself further.

After more cats came into the room and had introduced themselves, awkwardly I might say, the questions that had already been building up and multiplying in everyone suddenly seemed to be literally about to burst, and their seemed to be this general feeling that it was time to be told what the heck was going on.

Slowly all eyes were trained on Sir Andrew, as all the humans waited through a severely uncomfortable silence for Andrew to give them an answer.

But the silence was broken not by the playwrite, but by Pouncival, who had curled up on his stomach as he lounged lazily on one of the couches, as he picked up his head and looked at the expectant faces of the humans and sighed.

"It looks like you've got some 'splain'in to do," he said looking up at Andrew, rolling over onto his back, hoping maybe one of the humans might give him a belly rub.

At this the playwrite sighed, nodded at the Jellicle, and looked at the group still gathered at the bottom of the stairs. "Yes Pouncival, I do believe I owe everyone at least some what of an explanation. So, here's the whole story..."

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One _very_ long explanation later...

"And that's why you're here, to meet the Jellicles you play, and to get to know each other so your portrayals will be more accurate, since we do want to do this film right, don't we?"

The old playwrite smiled for affect and everyone stared at him unreadably, humans and Jellicles alike.

"And yes, for the record, I know I'm mad. Beautifully, beautifully mad," he said smiling evilly, and then adding, "have fun."

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**Please review! It's been way to long since I've posted a chapter, and I love getting yall's feedback!**


	4. A few surprises

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**I just wanted to say thank you to all you wonderful people who have read and reviews this, yall are great!**

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"Hi, you probably already know this, but I'm Mistoffelees, or Misto for short."

Jacob Brent was vaguely aware of someone shaking his hand, as the Jellicle introduced himself like he were a person, then again he technically was. Or at least deserved human consideration.

The Jellicle's grasp was light and his hand... or paw, was velvety with fur covering every inch of his fingers, which seemed just slightly fluffy near the ends, though still graceful.

Still, it was obvious he was awkward and shy, and young. Jake didn't know if he could place an age on him.

He couldn't pull his eyes away from the Jellicle, he was so strange, but so beautiful. But Jake suddenly realized how rude it was of him to stare, so he quickly glanced away and mumbled. "Well, I guess there's no more need for introductions... so, apparently you guys are real."

He didn't know how to feel about... well anything! Jellicles walk the earth? What about all those cats that get put down every year? Jake suddenly found himself feeling a lot more sympathetic toward the animal rights movement.

"Yeah, as real as you guys," replied Misto, obviously trying to hide the awkward shyness he always felt when meeting anyone new.

As Misto stood there he quickly racked his brain for something to say, and then blurted out. "So, what's with skiing? Sliding down a mountain on really long sticks, I mean, that's supposed to be fun?" As he said this he started heading for the stairs, Jacob following him as he picked up his bags.

To help out, Misto picked up one of the bags for Jake and slung it over his shoulder, figuring he should try to be helpful since the Jellicles were technically the humans' guests.

"Supposed to be, anyway," Jake shrugged, mouning the stairs while talking to Misto. "But between you and me, I don't think it's the best idea to get a bunch of dancers who need to be in shape to perform to go skiing, considering ski injuries are sort of a joke in themselves..."

But Jake's muses were cut short, as he looked up and saw Sir Andrew standing there at the top of the stairs, with an amused yet devillish look in his eyes.

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Michael Gruber was still trying to process the information, so deep in thought as he stood there that he was almost knocked off his feet as Pouncival ran right between his legs, just like his cat Louie at home.

_"Wow, these creatures really are cats,"_ he thought to himself, when a silver tabby standing in the doorway caught his eye.

It was him, Munkustrap. And Munkustrap was starring at him as if he didn't know what to do, as he sighed and stepped out of the shadows, coming in his direction.

The tabby walked up to him awkwardly, Michael, unable to pull his eyes away, found himself thinking that the Jellicle was magnificient.

But neither said anything, they couldn't bring themselves to speak, it was just too strange, and neither of them were used to situations like this.

They both liked things orderly and controlled and quiet, neither realizing how much they really had in common, but they'd find out over the length of the trip. Still, at this moment, neither could come up with anything to say to the other.

But luckily for the two, a young woman broke the tension at that moment as she cautiously approahced them.

Eava May, obviously nervous as her eyes darted back and fourth at the cats going by, still a touch of frost on her thick snow suit.

"Munkus," she managed, as the tabby and actor turned toward her. But when she noticed Michael's eyes on her she immediately realized how rude it was to ignore him, and put out her hand for him to shake, stammering, "Michael Gruber? Eava May, nice to meet you."

The man shook her hand to keep things from being awkward, although he realized this was a rushed introduction done only out of politeness.

"Um..." the woman seemed to be holding a question back as she turned again toward the Jellicle, her cheeks turning pink. "Munkustrap... I was wondering, where's Demeter? I thought we were supposed to be meeting the Jellicles we play?"

Munkustrap smiled at the question and pointed with his thumb toward the staircase behind him. "She's upstairs resting, in room 8, but you can go see her. She'll be getting up for dinner soon, anyway." He seemed to beam with pride as he said this, as if a soft glow of happiness was creeping up on him at the thought of his mate.

"Okay..." said Eava, unsure of what to think of this as she made her way past the man and Jellicle and hurried up the stairs, dodging people and cats as she went.

When she made it to the top of the first flight of stairs (it's four stories, cause Andrew went all out) she walked along the hall almost timidly, very nervous as she mentally prepared herself to meet another cat.

When she saw the room at the end of the hall with a large gold 8 on the door she was almost shocked, all she could think to herself was, _"so the cat gets a room with a view?"_

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The cat in question was laying curled up under the sheets of a king size bed, her head resting on a soft pillow, craddling her swollen belly in her paws.

The room she was in was quite large, with soft couches meant for lounging and sliding doors with curtains that led right out onto a terrace with one of the many hot tubs, with a perfect view of the mountains that surrounding this place on all sides.

She and Munkus had been given this room by Andrew himself, the playwrite wanting to make sure that the expecting couple had as much space and privacy as they needed. They had both been completely overwhelmed by his kindness, as he went out of his way to make sure that they were comfortable.

"Calm little ones, we'll meet each other soon enough," she soothed, as she felt the little paws of her kittens kicking inside her, and she couldn't help but smile dreamily the way mothers do.

"My little dears," she murmured quietly as she rubbed her belly where the fur rippled softly, that seeming to settle it down. She was due in five weeks, and was carrying a medium size litter of about four or five, the kittens seeming to get more and more restless the closer she got to her due date.

Demi mused on this thoughtfully until a noise from outside the door brought her back to reality and she lifted her head as the door slowly opened, and a pretty young woman peaked her head around the door.

Eava looked in the room and at the Jellicle laying on the bed, her eyes zooming toward the round, very pregnant belly of the cat and realizing in an instant why Munkus had seemed so happy talking about his mate.

The young woman couldn't help but stare for a moment, before quickly shaking her head and cautiously coming into the room. "Demeter?" she asked, in a soft voice.

The Jellicle on the bed smiled tiredly and nodded her head. "You're Eava?" she asked, propping herself up on a pillow, still laying on her left side. When Eava nodded, Demeter continued, "I know this sounds silly, but I'm flattered they picked a human as beautiful as you to play me." But there was a very sad tone to her voice as she said this, as she layed back a little and looked down at herself.

"Thank you, um..." begun Eava, unsure of what to say. She honestly didn't expect to find out that the character she played was pregnant, this was almost as surprising as finding out that these guys even existed in the first place.

"It's okay, we're shocking, and this is shocking, I get it," murmured Demeter saddly, not lifting her head as she said this. But then muttered, "you can sit down, you know."

Eava hesitated toward a chair, sitting down slowly next to the bed as Demi turned toward her a little.

Eava noticed just how beautiful Demeter really was, with her gold and black stripes and reddish headfur, like she was a mixed up tabby with a hint of calico creeping up here and there. But it wasn't just her fur, her features we smooth and young and bright, and she seemed to really have the glow about her. Her fur was smooth and soft as down, her eyes a lovely bright green.

both were quiet for quite some time, unable to think of anything to say, until Demeter's paw went to her stomach as she felt the kittens stirring again, Eava watching her with concern and curiosity, and before she could stop herself the human blurted out, "What's it feel like?"

Demeter's expression softened as she continued to soothe the active kittens, saying in a unsure yet gentle tone, "it... it feels wonderful. That's all I can say, I just feel like a total wreck, but it still... I can't even describe it."

"You'll have to excuse me, I've never had kids, so I was just curious," said Eava, smiling softly as she looked at the fur that was gently rippling gently.

"This is my first litter actually, so I understand, and in fact I'm scared out of my mind," said Demi, closing her eyes resignedly. Opening them and looking at the question on the human's face, she said, "long labors and difficult deliveries run in my family. And traveling... we got here by magic, so it only took two minutes to get here, but it's still nerve wracking. In fact, I almost didn't come, until Mr Webber assured me that the physical therapists that work on the broadway show,** ( and for the record, CATS was the first Broadway show to have full time physical therapist that worked on set with the actors, to prevent injuries before they happened ),** would be here and are also licensed massage therapists, and I could soak in the hot tubs if we keep the temperature below 100'. So surprisingly, being here is helping me to feel better, making me less stressed and nervous."

She gave a small, melancholy smile at this, looking at the woman as she seemed to hover back, resisting the urge to feel without permission.

"Go ahead," she said sweetly, taking the human's hand and pressing it against her belly, Eava waiting nervously and excitedly until the kittens, as if on cue, gave their new audience a few kicks, making the woman's eyes go wide and a smile spread across her face.

"Munkustrap is so excited," said Demeter, looking at the fascinated eyes of the human with a smile. "He's... he's almost more excited than I am, and just so caring, but also nervous, and practically gushing with bashfulness everytime Tugger teases him... he has no idea what a great dad he already is, what I see in him."

"I'm so glad for you," whispered Eava, removing her hand and looking at Demeter in the eye, "you're going to be a great mom."

The Jellicle's face went pink as she gave a chesire cat smile from ear to ear.

* * *

Back downstairs, two humans were waking up after hitting the floor out cold, Elaine Paige looking around groggily at the old queen sitting on the edge of the couch she was laying on, Bryn Walters curling up and crying like a little girl every time a Jellicle came near him.

Watching this with laughter were two notorious duos, Jerrie and Teaser, and Drew and Jo. They were standing on the staircase looking down at the scene, as some of the cats hung back and others cleared out of the room completely with their human counterparts, as the two old nurses of the tribe tended to the two humans.

"So, wut's with tha creepy one guy who acts loik a gimp?" asked Jerrie, raising an eyebrow as he watched Bryn bat away Jellylorum's paw wimpishly.

"I have no clue, shoot, I don't even know what he's doing on the cast," said Jo, rolling her eyes at the thought.

"Well I say we devote our time here to teach'in yeh how to be the best cat burg'ler ever, but we'll add mess'in with 'im as much as we can to the agenda," said Teaser, watching the shaking actor with mischievious eyes, thinking of a thousand "'orrible" things to do to him.

The other three nodded in unison, thinking of how fun this vacation was going to be.

* * *

"I can't believe we've been moved so now we have to room with Pouncival and Tumblebrutus," growled Jacob, watching the two kitten chase each other back and fourth, knocking over lamps and pictures as they went.

Mistoffelees sat down on a chair and put the bag down and begun licking his paws, ignoring the two annoyances completely as he had had years of practice in doing such.

"I mean, I make one criticism and Andrew just has to bunk us with these two rambunscious lunatics."

"We'll survive, they usually wear themselves out eventually," shrugged Misto, half grinning and catching Jake's eyes. "And between you and me," he whispered, checking to make sure that neither of the kittens were listening, "I just so happen to know a few nice little sleep spells that will have them out like a light, so that should come in handy."

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**Oh, the drama! I Bet you weren't expecting to find Demeter pregnant, we ya? I said I would try and surprise yall, now I need to go, I have to go clean the dirty dishes the Jellicles left in my sink. **

**Please review!**


	5. Kits and twins and creeps

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Okay, sorry it took me so long to update this, but... I'm graduating tomorrow! Sorry I didn't update sooner, it's just been crazy! **

**And please review, I love all you crazy people.**

**Oh, and I'd like to apologize to Rebeca, I really did think you flamed me, since you weren't signed in. That was my mistake, and I'm sorry.**

**But one thing, if anyone is going to leave a negative review, please be signed in so that I can message you and discuss whatever issue you're having with the story so that it can be worked out. Please? I'd really prefer that if something I write rubs someone the wrong way. Thank you!**

* * *

_Alright, let me get you up to speed, so everyone has met everyone else, and they're now adjusting to the situation. I just didn't want to write about every actor meeting every Jellicle because that would take too long._

_So this is pretty much taking place around lunch time the next day, just to give some perspective of the time. I'm going to be starting out each chapter from now on, saying when it is, since they're supposed to be staying there for three weeks. So expect a long story. _

Elaine Paige stared at the little gray kitten that was sitting in her lap, as it stared back at her with big, blue eyes.

The kitten gently batted at her arms with her paws, giving gentle mews as she saw how the sleeves covering the woman's arms moved at her touch.

"Is this...?" Elaine tried to say but couldn't get it out, as the tiny kitten reached up and weakly pawed at her face.

Victoria nodded slowly but with solemness to Elaine's question, saying with a light smile, "yes, this is Grizabella, reborn last year."

"So... she's yours?" managed the woman, still not able to speak as she looked into Grizabella's deep blue eyes with shock and awe.

"Yup, mine and Plato's. We were really surprised that we only had one kitten, since we're cats and we usually have litters, but sometimes singletons happen," she said this with an air of humor, but still a touch of melancholy.

It was strange, Grizabella was a precious, beautiful kitten. She was so vulnerable, even sensitive for a kitten, it was almost scary seeing all that was Grizabella's life and longings becoming something new and young and innocent.

"She'll learn who she is when she gets older, she'll probably recognize things from her past life pretty quickly..." said Victoria, looking at her daughter with an almost lamentanous air.

Victoria then came over and sat by Elaine, taking Grizabella back in her arms.

"Mama," Griza half said, half mewed, making Vick smile.

Victoria seemed very mature and thoughtful, the smile on her face revealing deep thought as she held her daughter close, and Elaine realized as she watched the two that Victoria had always been old for her age, that having this kitten meant a lot to her, that there was a deepness to her that she hoped would be somehow captured in the movie.

* * *

In the kitchen, Coricopat, Tantomile, and Plato were busy making lunch, with Kaye and Tommi, who weren't very handy when it came to cooking, trying to help out.

"Okay, what I need for you to do, is chop up the onions, and then I'll show you exactly how to prepare the salad," said Tantomile in her calm, but totally blunt way.

Kaye Brown, the woman who was supposed to play the Jellicle, nodded as she slowly started to chop the onions, careful not to cut her fingers (or any stray tails).

Tommi, the actor who played Coricopat, was chopping a bunch of potatoes (chopping was about all the two were good for, since they were so inexperienced in the kitchen).

To him it was strange, just doing something normal with the Jellicles, since Webber had told them to just hang out and get to know them. In fact, Tommi found it odd how they could act so feline, but also seem almost human at the same time.

"So..." he ventured casually, "you guys can eat human food?" He asked the cat closest to him, which was Plato.

Plato gave a slight nod to the human's question, not even turning and looking at him. He hadn't said a word to the actor no matter how many times the guy tried to start a conversation with him, and it was beginning to irritate Tommi a little.

"Do you also eat mice and stuff?" he asked, hoping that sooner or later the Jellicle would have to say something.

But again Plato just gave a simple nod, and tried to continue seasoning the ground beef while ignoring the human.

"Plato is mute, just so you know," said Cori, striding over to the sink between the Jellicle and the actor, draining the pasta that had been cooking on the stove into a colinder.

"Wait, you're mute?" asked Tommi, staring stupidly at Plato with raised eyebrows, forgetting that the Jellicle couldn't answer him.

At this Plato looked over at Cori, who said with a smirk, "Plato says 'last time I checked.'"

"So, do you know sign language?" asked Kaye shyly, remembering to address him directly.

"Yeah, but I never have much to say, anyway," supplied Cori, the pyschic tom using the best immitation of what Plato sounded like in his mind he could.

"Okay, and you two are really psychic?" asked Tommi, to which both of the twins rolled their eyes and nodded in assent as they turned and walked away from the humans.

"You know, our characters may be existential and thoughtful and graceful, but they're also full of themselves," whispered Tommi.

"You do realize that we can hear you, right? Remember, we're cats!" Tanto called from the other side of the room, trying to hold back a laugh at the human for not realizing this.

But what the Jellicle didn't anticipate was that she would startle the human, which she did, making him slice his finger.

"Oh shit!," he exclaimed, bringing the finger to his mouth and sucking on it.

At Tommi's exclamation Kaye turned around and froze, seeing the blood dripping from his hand horrified her, as she always freaked out over the tiniest cut.

Immediately the human was racing to pull open every cabinet and emptying the contents to find a first aid kit, Tommi calmly trying to stop the bleeding with a towel as his female counterpart seemed intent on tearing the kitchen apart.

_"You know, I think they're not so bad, I mean, come on brother, what did you expect? They're humans! So what if they're a little pathetic, we can make friends with them, I mean, they're certainly good for a few laughs!" _Tanto psychicly told Cori with a shrug, as she watched the two humans' very different reaction with a smile on her face.

_"If you say so, sis," _Cori thought back to her, more worried about how the humans' portrayal of them in the movie would turn out.

At this Andrew Lloyd Webber, still wearing nothing but a bath robe and slippers, walked into the room and looked at the three grinning Jellicles, Tommi's bleeding hand, and the crazed woman searching frantically for the first aid kit.

Taking in the scene the old playwrite turned toward the kettle that was sitting on the island and started filling a mug with steaming hot water from it, saying without even looking up, "the first aid kit is in the bottom drawer to the left of the third fridge." (this kitchen was frick'in huge).

As Kaye ran to the drawer and hurriedly started emptying the contents, Tommi following slowly as he didn't want to get too close to Kaye until she calmed down, Andrew sighed and opened a can of tea and inhaled, allowing the scent of chamomile to relax him as he tried to remember where the tea strainer was.

Just then, Demeter and Munkustrap walked into the kitchen, Munkus nodding respectfully to Andrew, keeping one arm wrapped around Demeter.

"Hi Sir Andrew, Cori, Milly," said Demeter, in an almost trilly voice. She was just in a great mood, what with the mountain air and the spa treatments and the wonderful food, she was really feeling better for the first time since she had heard they were going on this trip.

She was normally more serious than this, but it was just so hard to act that way when she knew she didn't have to be constantly afraid of Macavity while she was here, so she was really over acting the giddiness as she made a beeline for the first fridge.

She was in such a great mood, in fact, that earlier that day she had actually allowed (more like forced) Tugger to feel her kittens kicking.

Munk followed close behind her, ever vigilent should some strange human pop out of nowhere and scare her into early labor, or whatever paranoid thing he was worrying about at the moment.

Demi opened the fridge and started rummaging through it, pushing aside hams and leftover casserole, searching until she came upon a strangely labeled yellow box.

"Oh Andrew!" she exclaimed, pulling out the box and opening the lid, lifting out the form of a small dead animal covered in something dark and shiny.

"You actually got chocolate covered mice? I thought you could only get these in China," she said this with relish in her voice, as she held up and inspected the dead mouse in question.

"Yes, imported especially for you, my dear. I didn't exactly know what Jellicle's preffered to eat, so I asked Old Deuteronomy and he gave me a list of particular favorites, with chocolate coverd mice at the top of the list with your name next to it." As he said this, the old playwrite popped a bit of chamomile into his mouth, figuring he would never find his tea strainer in this huge kitchen. (Especially with a certain "couple 'o cats" running around.)

"Demi, I made you chocolate covered mice, remember?" said Munkustrap, almost pleading as he hated when anyone was able to provide for his mate better than he did, which was rare.

"Yes Munk, but those still had hair all over them, so the chocolate didn't stick right. Besides, I prefer dark chocolate, anyway," she said, popping the head of the mouse into her mouth, biting it off and crunching it between her teeth, a look that was close to ecstasy on her face.

* * *

Admetus sat up on his bunk licking his paw, turning and occasionally glancing around at Tony Timberlake and Frank Thompson, enjoying the fact that bathing himself in the open made the humans uncomfortable.

Asparagus Jr. was laying on the bottom bunk reading a book, making an effort to ignore the humans who apparently still hadn't caught onto the fact that it wasn't polite to stare.

Of course, it was hard not to, as Admetus was... creepy to say the least.

He muttered to himself constantly and would sometimes have conversations with people who weren't even in the room, or would yell up at the ceiling at the Everlasting Cat. Often he would stare off into space, honing in on some obscure point on the wall or something, thereby confusing everyone as to whether he were deep in thought or trying to get their attention.

But really, it was his facial expressions and the things he would say at random that were the most disturbing. He looked like that obscure relative your family doesn't speak about. Yeah, that one.

He loved to just pull the most insane faces so as to give the affect that you wouldn't want to be alone in the same room with him. And some of the things he would say, well...

"If I were a prostitute, how much would you pay for me?" said Admetus, in a thick Romanian accent (don't ask!)

"Wh-wha-huh?" asked Tony, who the question was directed toward. The man's eyes were about as wide as saucers and he couldn't shut his mouth even if he tried. "I'm not...umm" he couldn't even get it out, he was just way too freaked out by this.

Neither Tony nor Frank had slept a wink the night before, as Admetus murmured strange things in his sleep, mostly about going to Disney World, keeping them both awake.

Admetus stared at the freaked out actor for an entire minute, the warped smile slowly fading from his face as he realized he wouldn't get an answer out of him.

"Hey Asparagus," he muttered, looking down at the cat on the bottom bunk, catching the eyes of the two now totally paranoid actors for a moment. "Can I have another one of your whiskers? I lost the first seven, they just taste so nice!"

At this Asparagus Jr. sighed and closed his book slightly, making sure to save his place. "Admetus, when was the last time you took your medicine?"

"Um..." Admetus begun, turning and staring off into space as he thought about it, with a look on his face like he was deeply confused or had been asked to contemplate some strange, paradoxical conundrum. "I don't know... maybe a week ago. Why?"

* * *

**Okay, what'cha think? Sorry nothing really happened in this chapter, but I'm trying to focus on just the characters and their reactions to each other. **

**Stuff will start happening soon, at least, once the blizzard starts!**


	6. A new kind of dance

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Hey, this might be the last chapter I post before my family goes on our twentieth annual 'sixteen people in a two bedroom condo at the beach for a week family should be close but not this close vacation'.**

**Pray I come back alive, and please review!**

* * *

_Later that day, a certain curious cat was extremely freaked out and worried. What about? Well..._

"Okay, so... you're gay," Tugger said, for the twentieth time, still unable to believe this about John Partridge, the man who was going to play him in the film.

I mean, it was ludicrus, wasn't it? Having a gay guy portray a swinger who's based off Mick Jaggar? Actually, thinking about it...

Still, Tugger didn't like it. It wasn't that he was a homophobe, in fact he knew a few gay cats, his brother Misto being bi although becoming mates with Jemima. But this was just too much for him, it had to have been mis-cast, because he wasn't going to see his dance number ruined by John dancing with Alonzo instead of Bomba!

"Tugger, for the I-don't-know-how-many-eth time, yes, now what's it to ya?" asked John, as he walked through the huge main hall of the lodge, the exasperated tom at his heels. He was becoming weary of Tugger and his constant interrogation, and was considering asking Andrew if he could get his Jellicle fixed.

"Well, you didn't come across that way when we met! Now either I have no gaydar or you're pulling my leg!" said Tugger, about ready to pull his mane out by the roots.

"And how am I supposed to come across?" asked John, crossing his arms.

But at that moment Bryn Walters, who had been listening in on the entire conversation, soddled up to the two and said, "simple, you're supposed to come across as a faggot."

He had gotten over his fear of the Jellicles, and was now acting like his old, bastard of a self again.

At this, John narrowed his eyes as he lookd down at Bryn, as he wished he could find something a little more original than to just slug the guy.

Bryn looked up at John terrified as he seemed to just tower over him, as John brought back his fist and punched him hard in the face so that the sound could be heard from across the room.

"Damn it!" yelled Bryn, as he clutched the left side of his face with his hand, grabbing onto the back of a couch with the other as he stumbled backwards.

Tugger watched this with raised eyebrows, now unsure of what to think of his actor. _"Okay, so he's tough, but is he any fun to drink with? Does he like to party? Can he act like a straight guy for the camera?" _This last one came as more of an afterthought, as he realized he did like John, since they did seem so much alike despite the obvious differences.

"If I don't recall, you passed out when you first met the Jellicles, and then you wimpered like a little girl every time one of them came near you," said John, leaning against a beam of wood and grinning broadly.

Slowly, the little snake of an actor slunk off, covering his left eye which was beginning to swell up and change color.

"Okay, so you don't put up with people like that," said Tugger, his uncertainty returning to him. "Can you act like a ladies man? Since I'm the biggest one out there."

At this John just smiled and said, "you tell me." And with that he turned around and grabbed a passing Rosemarry and pulled her into a passionate kiss, literally taking the woman's breath away.

Tugger's eyes went wide as he realized just how into the kiss John really seemed, I mean, he was giving that woman some frick'in tongue.

As John pulled away and let Rosemarry go, she almost fell to the floor, completely shocked and blown away by the kiss. She felt as though she should be mad, but staring up at the gorgeous man, she just couldn't bring herself to be angry with him.

"You okay?" asked John, Rosemarry nodding her head breathlessly and then walking away on wobbly feet.

When john turned back and faced the Jellicle, he found that he was so stunned he almost looked comatose.

"What'ya expact? I'm an actor," said John with a shrug, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning against the side of the couch.

* * *

Jacob Brent stood bundled up in his snow suit and ski gear, Mistoffelees next to him in nothing but a knitted jacket and scarf and ski goggles and snow boots snapped into a pair of skis, both looking down the hill with the horrible realization that this was the only way down.

"So..." begun Jake, looking down the steep slope as he realized ski injuries weren't a joke.

They were stuck, the mountain didn't look this high from the bottom, and there was no other way to get down since the ski lift would only take people up.

"We could cheat, I have a spell..." offered Misto, with a sneaky look on his face.

Jake turned and looked at the Jellicle, barly keeping his mouth shut as he realized he wasn't joking.

"It would help us keep our balance, but like I said, it would be cheating..." he said, looking away as he found he couldn't look the human in the eye.

"No, let's do it, or at least cast the spell on me, because I can't afford any broken bones right now," said Jake, in a voice that was nearly desperate.

"Fine, if you never want to learn to ski on your own," said Misto, as he prepared the magic.

"You're the one who thought it was rediculus," muttered Jake, to which Misto shot a bolt of lightning right next to him, making him lose his balance and start down the hill.

"Woaaaah!" he called, as he slid down the hill, barly staying on his feet as he dug his ski poles into the snow to try and slow himself down.

Jake felt like his feet were about to slide out from under him as he slid down the hill, the steepness now making him afraid he would wind up falling and rolling down in a giant snow ball.

"Jake, squat down and bend your knees so you have a lower center of gravity!" called Misto, jumping in his skis and taking off down the hill, using his poles to propel himself forward to catch up to Jake.

Jake turned and looked at the Jellicle, trying desperately not to fall down as he called back, "if my center of gravity were any lower, I'd be underground!" But he did try to bend his knees, which, despite increasing his speed, helped him to stop wobbling about and actually stay on his skis as he flew down the hill.

Finally Misto caught up with him, his quirky smile spreading across his face as he tilted up his head and enjoyed the rush of going down the hill, the wind in his face.

Jake tried to swat at Misto with his ski pull, missing and almost falling down as the Jellicle ducked. It was totally ludicrus, seeing him make repeated attempts to smack or poke him with the ski pole, Mistoffelees using his extreme flexibility and springyness to dodge Jake's angry attempts each time.

They were finally approaching the bottom, but the two realized way to late that they didn't know how to slow down, and there was a deep snow bank right in front of them...

Umph...

"Misto," said Jake, slowly poking his head out of the pile of snow and struggling to get his arms free so he could strangle the cat.

But Misto didn't answer, as he got up out of the snow bank with a touch of grace and dignity and started brushing the snow off his arms.

"Well, I must say that that was remarkably like garbage surfing..." he said in a kittenish voice, before catching the look on Jake's face, which was a mixture of pissed off and confused. "It's a sport back at the 'yard, like snow boarding. So, wanna have another go?"

* * *

Rumpleteazer glided across the ice on her skates with ease, the acorn-shaped tea strainer ball she had nicked from the kitchen strung around her neck, filled with beads so that it jingled like a bell.

"You do realize Andrew will kill us if he finds out about that, right?" said Drew, as he strapped on his skates and stood up. Although he couldn't talk, since he had checked to make sure the coast was clear when they stole it.

"Nah, he won'. Me an' Jerrie explained to him that we're kleptomaniacs, so we're addicted to stealing," said Teazer with an air of pride. "We can' 'elp it."

"Yup, go' that word right ou' of one'o you umans' fancy encyclopedias," said Jerrie, coming to a stop next to his sister and putting his arm around her waist.

This made the two humans a little uncomfortable, after all, they were siblings! The only two in their litter, what humans would call twins. But they were also mates... just a little weird for the two squeamish humans to be around.

"What?" asked Jerrie at the freaked out expression on Jo's face, to which the girl said nothing and looked away quickly.

Drew coughed to break the silence, getting up awkwardly and rubbing the back of his neck as he started across the ice.

He wasn't that bad, he and Jo could both keep their balance, and it was fun, so they decided to stick with that instead of skiing.

Jo followed him, testing her skates and trying to figure out if she could apply her skill at dancing to the ice. She started speeding up a little, skating around Drew and turning and facing him, skating backwards and then falling forward on her face.

"Eeeek," she half laughed, half squealed as she barely caught herself before hitting the ice.

Drew skated up to her and bent down, looking at her with a teasing look in his eyes. "And that's why we don't skate backwards," he said, offering her a hand.

As he helped her up, his eyes strayed to the other side of the lake, where a strange light tabby queen was getting on the ice.

Her beautiful gold and black stripes stood out against her mostly white coat, her figure seemed flawless and her tail curled gracefully around herself as she seemed to not even touch the ice.

She took a jump, spun and landed on her right foot and kept going, and then slowly raised one leg, skating on the other while holding the raised one above her head as she glided gracefully across the ice.

But it was just her lively spirit that pulled Drew in, it was obvious she was having the time of her life, she was exploring what she could do on the ice with her body. She was trying something new, experimenting with the unknown, almost delirious with excitment.

She seemed to excude this love for life, in every turn and jump she performed, she wanted to experience and feel and live, in every sense of the word, live.

"Who is that?" whispered Drew, watching the beautiful queen with awe and fear of something so astoundingly beautiful.

"That's Etcetera, haven't you seen her before?" asked Teaser, siddling up to the human.

"No, I guess I haven't," Drew managed, and before he even new it, he found himself skating toward her, Jo watching him with a look of confusion on her face.

He didn't know what he was doing, but he had to go to her, talk to her. He didn't even know what he was going to say to her, but...

"Hey," he managed, as he skated up to Cettie, mentally smacking himself for not finding something better to say.

Cettie turned to him and smiled, "hey yourself." Her voice was sweet and full of energy and joy, but also maturity. She was in her twenties now, so she wasn't such a kid as she was during the ball portrayed in the musical, but she was still young and full of life.

"Um... I'm Drew," he said breathlessly, coming to a stop almost directly in front of her.

"Etcetera, but I prefer Cettie," she said, with smiling eyes. She reached out with her paw to shake his hand, noticing the stunned human was so nervous he could barely grasp her paw without collapsing, and found herself unable to keep from giggling at this.

"I saw you skating... you're amazing," Drew stuttered, thinking of just how sweet her laugh was.

"Really? Thanks... I saw some recorded videos of the Olympics, and sometimes I've begged Misto to use his magic to freeze the water in this discarded kiddy pool at the yard, so I knew how to balance, and figure skating is just like dancing, anyway," she said, before realizing how much like bragging this sounded.

Her cheeks were actually turning scarlet as she looked away and said, "I mean... it's taken me years of practice on the kiddie pool to learn to balance, and I could only go in circles on it, so I'm not really good at this, it's just something I've always wanted to do on a pond..."

"No, you're amazing. I mean, I've never seen better skating," he said quickly, realizing how embarrassed the poor queen was.

"Would you like to skate with me?" Drew asked, Cettie's eyes lighting up at this as she smiled and took his hand, suddenly feeling light headed.

**(I know this sounds weird, but put on the score Ice Dance, from Edward Scissorhands. Trust me, it works)**

They started out hand in hand, slowly gaining speed until Drew spun them both around and they started in the opposite direction, letting go of each other and skating apart.

They both turned and Cettie looked at him with a determined and serious tone in her eyes, and she quickly started skating toward him and then jumped, Drew instinctively catching her and holding her up as he continued to glide forward, turning her over and setting her down as he got down on one knee, still going slowly.

He got up and didn't let go of Cettie's hand, as he pulled her into an embrace. They skated side by side like this, Drew bringing his hand down the length of her body, tracing her curves and then bringing it back up and taking her other hand.

They let go of each other again and this time Drew felt so in sinc with her that he realized they were going to do a few jumps without having to be told.

He built up speed and kicked off and spun once, landing and continuing sideways on one skate as Cettie did the exact same thing.

They skated back together but didn't grasp each others' hands again, as they skated _oh so close_ together but didn't quite touch, and then Drew picked her up again.

He skated slowly carrying this queen high above his head, a strange sense of serenity seeming to come upon him as he held her here, and then he looked up.

She was smiling and reaching her paws toward the sky, a brightness in her eyes that shone with the pure snowflakes that were falling down upon her, catching some in her outstretched paws.

He brought her down again and they skated apart, circling each other, each building up speed until they both made the next jump, like clockwork, perfectly in tune. Coming down into a lunge, Drew turned and found Etcetera doing the same thing, as they went past each other for the next jump...

They both leapt and did two spins in the air, both landing facing in opposite directions, spinning around and coming up to each other again, slowing down as they approached each other.

Drew stopped on a dime before Etcetera, putting his arms around her waist, her taking his strong arms that had carried her. Both were out of breath, Drew was dripping in sweat and Cettie's paw came up to wipe his forehead.

She gently brushed his hair out of his face, and he held her paw for a second.

The snow was still falling around them as they stood there and didn't let go of each other, feeling as though this moment of being had to last forever.

Eventually, they weren't even sure when, and were in too much of a daze to even remember getting off the ice, they started to make their way back to the lodge.

On their way there, Drew smiled at Cettie as he held her close and said to her, "come on, I'll buy ya a cup of hot chocolate."

The snow continued to fall as they walked away from the ice.

* * *

**Okay, so whatch'a think? A romance between Drew and Cettie? And I bet you thought he would get with Jo!**


	7. Schemes and snow

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Please review, I love getting yalls' feedback, and any ideas would help as well! (But seriously, if you have something good, private message me).**

**Funny enough, my little sister took that too far last night by bursting into my room around midnight and telling me an idea for Admetus. As you can imagine I'm not using it.**

**By the way, sorry it's taken me so long to update, what with getting back from vacation and getting two new bottle feed kittens (siameses) and starting back up at the ag center for the summer, I'm usually pretty beat.**

* * *

_Around noon the next day, the snow still coming down in sheets..._

Michael Gruber watched awkwardly as Munkustrap helped an unsteady Demeter into the hot tub, unsure of whether he should be looking at them or not.

They were out on the spa deck, which had three hot tubs and was enclosed in thick blue tinted glass so as to give them a view of the outside without having to worry about the weather. It was a good thing, too, as the snow was still coming down strongly, without any signs of letting up.

Demeter let out a sigh of relief as she sat down in the water, arching her back as much as she could as one of the jets shot hot water agaisn't her back. "I knew this was a great idea, this trip," she said as she leaned her head back against the side.

At this Munkus looked at Michael and rolled his eyes sarcastically, to which a confused Michael raised an eyebrow questioningly.

But just then, Aeva May came up and stood at the edge of the hot tub, a towel draped around her body and a hesitent look on her face. "May I join you?" she asked shyly, letting the towel fall down around her slightly, revealing a plain blue bakini swimsuit.

"Why, are we falling apart?" asked Munkus, smirking until he stepped into the hot tub himself, wincing slightly at the water's temperature before he adjusted to it. Of course, it was a rather lame joke, but at least the usually serious Jellicle protector was trying.

Aeva resisted pointing out just how corny the joke was to Munkus as she stepped into the hot tub and smiled at Demeter, who was thoroughly enjoying herself, nodding to the woman contentedly.

There was quiet for a few minutes, none of the people or Jellicles trying to make conversation as they relaxed in the bubbling hot water. Although the silence had to be broken eventually, Michael Gruber deciding to try to get to know the Jellicles better.

"So, how long have you two been mates?" he asked, figuring that was as good a starting point as any.

"Oh, let's see...we've been mates for five years, although we were still only engaged at the Jellicle Ball in which Grizabella was sent to the Heaviside Layer. But we were engaged for... how long was it?" asked Munkus, turning to Demeter.

"We were engaged for years on and off because you were all, 'I don't want Macavity to capture you and use you against me as bait, that's why I can't afford to love anyone,'" said Demeter in a mimicky voice. "And I was all, 'please, we've practically been engaged since we were kits,' since I talked you into becoming my mate when you were four and didn't know what it meant at the time. Then again, neither did I, since I was only four and a half."

At this Munkus chuckled and then shook his head, regaining his composure before saying, "true, but you went off with Macavity before he went insane and I was coming to terms with my feelings for you. And then he proved himself to be a sociopath and you left him and it turned into a situation of me trying to protect you by keeping my distance, and look how well that worked out!"

And with that Munkus reached underwater and gave her belly a pat, not caring that the humans were staring at him and his mate and holding back laughter, like their relationship was some kind of corny soap opera. Which really, based on what they said, it might as well have been.

* * *

Bustopher Jones sat at the table and stared miserably at the bowl of salad in front of him, pushing the leaves closest to himself back and fourth with his finger, not caring about manners anymore.

"So what did you call this again?" he asked in his most gruff voice, narrowing his eyes suspiciously as he lifted a piece of lettuce and caught sight of a tomatoe.

"Its a salad, with baked chicken, you'll love it. I made the chicken with plenty of seasonings and extra virgin olive oil, and its free range and the vegetables are organic," said Jennyanydots sweetly. She had agreed to help Bustopher lose weight, which he was determined to do on this trip, at least until he realized all that it implied.

Jenny had always admired him greatly for his status and elegance, some saying she had a bit of a crush on him. Although she was happily mated to Skibleshanks, it was rumored that years before she and Bustopher had been an item.

Either way, she was the tribe nurse, and she was determined to help Bustopher get fit. It was her duty to help keep everyone healthy, and to stay completely proffesional, and that was just what she was going to do, even if she often did become tongue tied when he addressed her.

But she was determined, after all, he really did need her help.

He had been having heart problems for the past couple of years, and it had everyone worried. At one point he gave the whole tribe a scare when they thought he had had a heart attack. Although it was a false alarm, it was a wake up call, his nephew Misto responding by booby trapping all of his stashes of fancy tinned meats with mouse traps.

The problem was that Bustopher was completely addicted to sugar and white flour and huge amounts of animal fat, as in more than even what a cat needed; food portion was also an issue. He was used to eating huge amounts of food, his stomach stretched to well beyond what is considered normal size, a result of a lifetime of gluttony.

Next to him at the table, was James Barron, the actor who was going to portray this Brummel of cats. He sat by eating leftover pizza, enjoying the fact that since he would be in a huge, puffy costume, his weight didn't matter much.

Jenny had of course begged him not to taunt poor old Bustopher by eating junk in front of him, but he wasn't gonna, feeling as though he owed Bustopher nothing, since the cat was in such a bad mood.

Bustopher was going through sugar withdrawels and was taking it out on him, criticising the human for everything. So why should he make dieting any easier for the fat old tux? It wasn't his fault Bustopher was getting headaches from not having any sweets that day!

The old Gumbie cat glared at James as he sat back and troughed the pizza, knowing how hard it was for Bustopher to see the human indulging in something so unhealthy.

"Back in my day we had fourteen course banquets and men would spend hours a day eating in the lunch clubs and chop houses," Bustopher muttered under his breath, for the first time in his life pushing a plate of food away.

* * *

Bombalurina let out a jealous huff as she watched Tugger leading Cassandra out the door, wishing desperately that it was herself instead.

Rosemarry Ford watched the poor queen quizzically, confused as to the true nature of the relationship between the red queen and the Rum Tum Tugger.

They hadn't talked much, Rosemarry and Bomba, since the red queen seemed to be so preoccupied with watching Jealously as Tugger went around with his latest affair, Cassandra.

Cassandra, the abyssinian, an exotic beauty. It couldn't be real love, Tugger was just using her to satisfy some strange fettish for cats of a different race. He probably had always wanted to go out with an abby, and once he was done with her, he would move on to his next venture.

At least that's what Bomba told herself as she watched the two out the window, Tugger whispering something to Cassandra and looking around with an excited look in his eyes.

Rosemarry watched them also, not knowing what to think as she looked back and fourth between the red queen sitting in the window and the maine coon and abyssinian outside.

"So... what's with, I mean, you and Tugger..." she begun, unsure of how to broach the obviously delicate topic.

At this Bomba turned and looked at the woman and shook her head as if wishing this wasn't her life.

"He's just a swinger who won't settle down with one queen," she managed, watching Tugger lead Cassandra across the snowy lawn. "He always comes back to me, saying I'm the love of his life... but then he's always coming off of some fling when he does that."

There was a long pause in which neither she nor Rosemarry spoke, before Bomba shook her head and looked out the window again. "I guess that makes me the throw back."

Rosemarry was speechless, unable to even comprehend being in a relationship like that, being nothing more than some man's throw back.

"...I remember when Cettie came of age and they started going out... but that barely lasted two days, because Cettie had really matured by then and had decided she wasn't going to lose it to the Rum Tum Tugger."

Bomba turned back to Rosemarry and looked at her with desperate earnesty on her face, although wanting to be unreadable. "And then he did the most horrible thing he could have done...he came crawling back to me."

"Why don't you find someone else then? Someone who will love and appreciate you and treat you with the respect you deserve?" said Rosemarry, wondering why anyone would allow themselves to be treated like that.

"Because I'm head over heels for him," sighed Bomba, placing a paw on the icy window.

* * *

Jo Gibb spied on Drew from her place at the top of the stairs, Mungojerrie on her left and Rumpleteazer on her right, all watching as the young male dancer made his way to the door with Etcetera.

Jo didn't know what to think, feeling more confused than anything about seeing Drew skate with Cettie the day before. In fact she had no clue what to make of it, since she and Drew weren't in love, although he did tease her a lot in suggestive ways.

Maybe it was more that she was close to him, seeing herself as just as much a part of a duo off stage as she was on stage, and she didn't want to see that end.

And so she found herself spying on Drew, something she had done only once before for reasons that cannot legally be said here, but let's just say she had good reason.

She felt rather guilty, but really, she was more interested in what Drew was saying to Etcetera to care.

Rumpleteazer was listening closely to what Drew and Cettie were saying, telling Jo everything that came out of their mouths.

Apparently they were off to the lake to go ice skating again, Cettie full of giggles and smiles as Drew kept up a constant banter of jokes at his own expense, mostly picking at himself for being a New Zealander.

**(and for the record, I have nothing agaisnt New Zealand, I just think everyone should make fun of themselves sometimes, like when I tell jokes at my own expense for living in such a joke of a state as Louisiana.)**

"'So foinally the ventriloquest asked the New Zealander if he could talk to 'is sheep, an' the New Zealander replied, "don' believe anythin' the sheep tells you, he's a liar!'" Rumpleteazer supplied for Jo with a look of confusion on her face. "Oi don'get it."

Jo was red in the face and staring at the calico queen, "um...never mind, I don't want to be responsible for contributing to the delinquency of a kleptomaniac."

Teazer raised an eyebrow at this and then shrugged it off, deciding to change the topic. "So, ya wanna tell Jo the plans fo' tomorrow noit?" she asked Jerrie, who was sporting a proud grin.

The woman turned to Jerrie with a curious look in her eyes, wondering why they were being so secretive.

"Oh, we're jus' gonna have some fun raid'in Misto's private stores of potions, see if we can find anythin' we can use."

Stealing from Mistoffelees. Breaking into his case of potions he had brought, those private stores. That's what the two calicos were refering to. Something totally dangerous and stupid, of course that would be their next target.

"For what?" asked Jo, a slight touch of fear creeping up on her at the thought of breaking into anything belonging to a powerful magician.

"The biggest 'eist ever, we'll tell ya more once we get Drew in on it, but until then we need to keep it hush-hush..." whispered Jerrie, before drifting off as a suspicious looking Jellylorum passed by, giving him and Teazer a warningful look.

When she was finally gone Jo simply nodded, knowing it wouldn't be wise to say anything about it out loud with the others around.

She felt as though she should be excited, but somehow just couldn't bring herself to smile as she wondered what was gonna happen, staring out the large window above the front entrance to the lodge, seeing the weather still hadn't cleared up.

It had been snowing since the afternoon the day before, and it didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. In fact, if anything the snow was coming down harder than ever, and it was making the young woman worried.

"That's odd, it's been snowing since yesterday and it hasn't let up. I wonder when it's gonna stop," she said thoughtfully, not taking her eyes off the window.

* * *

**Okay, so what'cha think? If it's too corny I can take it down and try again, I've just been so tired due to a lot going on. **

**I mean, if you spent an entire morning working with cows, and you wound up covered in cow shit before noon, I bet you wouldn't put out the best material either!**


	8. anger and losses and love

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Warning, contains a very drunk Rum Tum Tugger and John Partridge, and some language, and just a touch of fluff. Enjoy!**

**Please review, I stayed up late writing even though I should be in bed because I have to wake up at six!**

**By the way, sorry I didn't update sooner, I'm working with livestock again, and it can really wear you out! I mean, imagine yourself covered in cow crap before noon, and then you realize you have nothing clean to change into. That's what I'm dealing with people!**

* * *

_That evening, in front of a crackling fireplace..._

Tantomile sat in front of the fireplace with her legs crossed, two of her three adopted siamese kittens sitting in her lap, the other being held by Coricopat as he leaned against the couch.

Asia, the firepoint with almost-purple eyes sat on Tanto's left leg, looking inquisitively into the fire, as if pondering it. On her right leg sat Indra, a pale lilac point with deep blue eyes, who was leaning against her side purring.

Mai, the smallest of the three sisters, a tiny chocolate point with pale, icy eyes, was giggling and talking to her dad non-stop. "Daddy, her aura is just so gray and muddy, why is that?" she asked in a piping voice.

To this Cori chuckled, a response only one of his kits could draw out of him, as he turned to Tommi and sighed, "youngsters, what do you do with them?"

To this the man gave an awkward laugh, turning and looking at Kaye who grinned and took another sip of her tea so to have an excuse not to respond.

"So, your kittens are adopted... and they're from China?" asked the man, his ignorance making Kaye even more uncomfortable as she looked up at Tanto with with an apology written on her face.

At this Asia turned and looked at the man, in the same way a know-it-all six-year-old tells an adult something. "We're siamese, from Siam, now called Thailand. If we were from China, we would probably be in soup by now. Or sleeves on someone's fur coat."

At this Tantomile let out a sigh and nodded, wearily acknowledging what her daughter said while trying to seem apologetic on behalf of her kitten. "Yes, and you should have seen how our parents reacted, what with us being pure bred oriental shorthairs, and they so wanted us to bring them grandkits that looked like them. But as soon as these furballs were brought in, tiny little infants, it was love at first sight."

"Hmmm, yup, we still have that picture of gran's reaction," squeaked Indra, turning to her sister and licking her on the ear.

"Their biological parents were Jellicle's that would come all the way from Thailand to the Jellicle ball every year, so we knew them. And well, after um... the acci-... the kittens needed somewhere to go."

"Yes," begun Tanto solemnly. "We had already decided to never have kittens of our own. Since we are siblings, adopting was the best choice."

"Wait we're adopted?" chirped Indra in a mock-shocked voice. "But you're my parents." And with that she hugged Tanto's neck, the psychic who normally wouldn't desplay affection in public nuzzling the kitten back. She didn't care to pretend to be all emotionless and stoic with the kittens.

Tommi gave Kaye a strange look, not realizing the kitten was just playing it up in a reutine they had come up with to entertain strangers, since it was so obvious they were adopted.

"But you don't look like them, so how are they your parents?" asked the tactless man, to which even Kaye's mouth dropped open in shock.

None of the Jellicle's spoke for nearly a minute, as the little family simply stared at the human until they suddenly started to get up. It really was bold of him to say that, especially in this day and time (and with cats!). But their silence said it all.

Kaye Stood up with them and followed them out of the room, leaving Tommi to sit there wide eyed to wonder what he did wrong.

* * *

John and Tugger were both very drunk.

**( I mean, picture the drunkest person you ever saw, and then multiply it, minus the alcohol poisoning.)**

Having been given a room with a mini bar complete with an ice machine and enough ingredients to make just about any mixed drink, they were taking full advantage of it.

"So I theatened the 'astard and he woudn't leave, but then i' 'urned out to be jus' a mirror," slured John, talking about a previous night out drinking.

"Same thing happening to me once time... only I tho the mirror wasn't not a 'ollicle..." Tugger drifted off here, looking saddly into his empty whiskey glass until John passed him the bottle and he took a slug straight from it, wiping his lips.

"So... so tell me, how many 'umbers of queenfriends have you actually had-dated?" asked john, swaying back and forth a little as he said this.

"Um... I 'ost track, I have gone out with abou' every queen in the tribe... and then there's always Bomba," he stopped here and looked like he were trying to think really hard about something, and then he looked at john as straight as he could. "What'do you think o' Bomba?"

"What? Um... she's pretty and um..."-"Pretty, she's beautiful! She's serious and... flirty. Snide. She 'oes takes relationships seriously. She' charming and talented and... and perfect!" he blusterd out, looking at John with a look of triumph on his face.

"So...so what kinda point'cha trying to make?" asked John, refilling his glass and then passing the bottle back to Tugger.

"Well," begun Tugger, first taking another swallow of whiskey before continuing. "I wanted to know what you thought of her, because..." And he sounded a lot more sober at this. "I...wanted to ask Bomba if she would be my mate."

* * *

"You're telling me Old Gus died, the day after the Jellicle Ball we portray in the musical?" asked John Mills, a wave of chills coming over him.

He was sitting at the long table in the dining room, holding his head in his hands as Jellylorum told him about the loss of her father, Old Gus.

"We knew it was sort of his last chance, we didn't think he would survive another year," said Jellylorum with such grief in her voice, it was heart wrenching, although besides her mournful speech she kept her composure. "He died peacefully in his sleep."

"So Grizabella getting a new life, it cost Gus his?" he asked, almost unable to speak.

"Yes, when Old Gus did his song, he was presenting his life and accomplishments and it was his way of asking, but Old Deuteronomy already had wanted it to be Grizabella... it was so hard telling him it wouldn't be him. Instead of it going to the one who deserved it, it went to the lowliest, the one least deserving." She seemed thoughtful as she said this, as if remembering the night, her re-acceptance of Grizabella. How she feared her being chosen; forgetting that fear as she saw Grizabella pleading just to be touched...

"So, in my portrayal of Old Gus, I should make him seem like he desperately wants another life?" asked the old actor, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"No, if anything, that's what made Gus different than Grizabella. She longed to have the happiness she had once back, to be given a new life so that she could try again because she had so many regrets... Gus had no regrets, and really, if anything he didn't want a new life, he just wanted to relive the life he had."

"So I should make it seem that he longed for the past itself?" asked John.

"Yes, because he did long for the past itself, to experience it again."

* * *

Drew was out on the ice again with Etcetera, skating after dark.

The moon was shining so brightly though, that they could see everything, as it reflected off the snow on the ground and the snow that was still falling, shimmering brightly.

**(Okay, for this one, put on the song River Flows In You, by Yiruma, I mean it!)**

They begun circling each other, Drew reaching out and catching her hand as she leaned down backwards to be spun around by him, going like this for what seemed like forever and a day.

When the man let her go, she skated backwards with one leg raised above her head as she turned around and begun to spin, slowly squatting down, keeping one leg in front as she did this, Drew doing the same.

Coming up out of the spin they both begun to skate toward each other again, both grabbing each others hands and then picking up one leg each and holding the other's raised leg as they spun together.

When they finally broke this off, Drew didn't let go of Cettie's paw as he pulled her after himself.

Slowly, she let go until they were just barely touching each other's fingertips, and then Cettie pulled her paw away and started to skate slowly in the opposite direction, jumping and skating at a sideways angle back toward Drew.

Drew picked her up by her waist and they spun together very slowly, before he lifted her and threw her, letting her spin and land backwards on one skate, her tail curled around her legs gracefully.

"You're so beautiful," he said to her, making her face light up with a smile that was as radiant as the moon.

She skated away from him again and stopped after getting about twenty feet away, turning toward him and skating fast until she lept off the ice, performing a perfect butterfly jump, doing a high split in the air and spreading her arms wide.

Landing on both skates she turned to the side and slid into a hault right next to Drew, panting.

The man wrapped both his arms around her waist and she took his shoulders, resting her head on his chest.

They held each other like this, skating in a tiny circle, the snow falling so hard and fast upon them that it begun to gather on their shoulders as they seemed to glide aimlessly for an eternity.

Slowly, Cettie raised her head and looked at Drew in the face, her smiling eyes full of the reflections of the falling snow flakes.

"Drew... we need to go back inside," she murmured saddly, resting her head on his chest again.

To this the man only gripped her tighter and nodded, not letting her go as he slowly begun skating toward the edge of the ice, drawing the moment out as long as it could last.

* * *

"So, what color do you prefer, Electra? Black, or black?" asked Leah Sue Morland, the woman playing Electra.

"Umm... do you have dark red?" asked the punk of a queen cat, laying on her side on her bed as she watched the human painting her toe nails.

"Yes, in fact I do," she said, turning toward her toiletry bag and pulling out a vile of red nail polish.

"Cool, so how do I apply this stuff?" asked the queen, sitting up and sliding to the floor next to the human, who was now blowing on her nails.

"Well, spread your claws and I'll show you," said Leah, scooting over toward the Jellicle, who was un-velveting her claws gracefully.

The woman started to smoothly apply the red gloss, showing her how to slide it along the surface of the cat's claws until she let Electra try on her own.

"Cool, it looks like I have blood on my claws!"

* * *

_Much later that night, after Cettie had gone up to her room, leaving Drew downstairs with his thoughts... that is until he was found by a certain duo and a very angry Jo._

"Drew!" whispered Jo with indignant fury, angry that her dance partner had showed up late. "What were you doing out so late?"

"Skating with Cettie, why? You got a problem with that?" asked the New Zealander, lowering his arms to his sides as if trying to deflate the anger rising up inside him.

"I told you earlier we needed to meet up so I could give you the skinny on what we're supposed to be doing tonight with Jerrie and Teazer and now it's too late!" the woman hissed, somehow getting all of this out on one breath.

"Oh, they wanted to pull off some dumb heist, hm?" he asked, persing his lips together and turning his gaze to a shadowy corner as the two calico theives showed themselves.

"Some dumb heist? We though' ye wanted to learn to be a cat burglar!" spurted Jerrie, glaring angrilly at the man, considering un-sheathing his claws..

"Well, if you had told me earlier, I would have showed up, but I know what's going on. And yelling it to me from the edge of the pond doesn't count. You just don't want me with Etcy, do you?" he said this last bit very mysteriously, knowing full well that he was right.

"You are just so full of yourself, you know that," said Jo, shoving Drew, knocking him into a table holding a vase full of flowers, hitting it so that it fell to the ground and shattered.

SMASH!

There was a moment of scared silence, and then a light came on from upstairs, and a pajama adorned Andrew Lloyd Webber made his way down the stairs.

"Is something going on down here?" asked the man, crossing his arms. Although he seemed stern enough, it was impossible to take him seriously right here, no matter how hard one tried to ignore the bunny slippers.

"Nothing, we were just going to bed," said Jo, turning away from Drew with a look of fire in her eyes.

"Alright then, just remember, we have insurance on this place, but that doesn't give us the right to destroy it," said Andrew, watching the woman storm up the stairs and the two Jellicles dissappear, leaving Drew alone and furious.

Although nobody saw it, outside the window the wind was picking up, coming down harder.  
It hadn't stopped and was beginning to pile up, as the level of the snow bank begun to just reach up to the bottom of the window...

* * *

**So what'cha think? Surprised? Angry that they haven't robbed Misto yet? Because I promise it will happen, I just enjoy holding people in suspense!**


	9. Consider yourselvs snowed in

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Okay, everyone is really going to have to tell me what they think of this chapter, and I mean really. Like, insert some hyperbole, because I don't want to come up with one right now!**

* * *

"This... this isn't good," said Skimble gravely, looking at the window, which was halfway blocked with snow.

Outside a blizzard blew in full force, the unrelenting whistling causing a low din which everyone woke up to. The snow was slowly burying the cabin, with sub zero temperatures and winds that felt like they just cut straight through you. If you walked outside, you would find that the snow was up to your shoulders and impossible to get through; they were trapped. Trapped like rats in a shooting barrel.

Andrew stood silently next to the orange tabby, looking so serious it was almost frightening, owing to the fact that he only took things seriously if they involved others lives, like now. Would they even survive long enough to make the musical?

"We need to have an emergency meeting," he whispered his voice tense and awed, as if he were staring death itself in the face as he stared at the window.

* * *

Old Deuteronomy, Munkustrap, Demeter, Alonzo, Jennyanydots, Coricopat and Tantomile, Skimbleshanks, Mistoffelees, and even Tugger, all sat on the couches around the fire.

There human counterparts sat in and amongst them; Andrew stood in front of the fire, trying not to look too worried.

"Okay, I'm assuming we all know what this meeting is about. So let's just start off with any questions or comments," said the old playwrite, pacing back and forth in front of the crackling fireplace.

Michael Gruber immediately raised his hand, room for somethihis eyes darting around the room as he did this. "Has anyone checked the radio to see how long this storm will last?" he asked, trying to think practically.

"Skimble?" asked Andrew, turning to the orange tabby who immediately pulled out a small tw-way radio and started turning the nobs on it, but getting nothing but static.

"Sorry," he begun in his Scottish accent. "We aren't getting a signal right now, probably problems with the control tower. I'm gonna keep work'in on this, but until then there's nothing we can do but wait."

"You do that," said Andrew seriously, before turning to the others. Looking at Old Deuteronomy, he felt a little guilty that he wasn't making much of an effort to make the Jellicle leader feel like he had any authority here, when really the old playwrite considered Old D to be more in charge than he was.

"Old Deuteronomy... I'm not sure how you want the Jellicles to handle this situation, since you are their leader. Really I should leave it up to you what they do"-"Andrew, we've never been in a situation quite like this before, and so I think in this particular emergency you should be in charge because this is out of our area of expertise." He was right of course, as far as Old Deuteronomy knew, no Jellicle had ever been trapped in a lodge full of humans in a foreign country before.

"Are you sure?" asked Andrew, to which Old Deuteronomy simply nodded with an earnest look on his face. "Okay then... Um, Misto! Do you have any ideas of solutions?"

"It really depends, if the storm blows itself out, I could just use my powers to clear the snow. The real problem is rescue teams, since I know here in Switzerland they deal with plenty of blizzards. It's probably best to not magic our way out of the situation." And then, clearing his voice, Misto looked at all the other Jellicles and humans sitting around the fireplace, and then straight at Andrew. "The one thing we must remember, is the Jellicle secret can't get out, and so transporting everyone or clearing the snow... it would look very suspicious. Imagine how a rescue team would react if they got here and found all the snow cleared right after a blizzard and us all out skiing?"

All the Jellicles nodded in agreement, the terror of being found out so obvious that most of the humans present resigned themselves to whatever they said.

"Alright then," said Webber, his normal kookiness beginning to show again when it had sunk in that they'd just have to deal with this.  
He realized his acting all grave and serious wouldn't help anyone, so he decided to take on the role of the unpredictable, eccentric leader with as much grace and dignity as possible.

"Old Deuteronomy, Munkustrap, we need you to instruct the Jellicles, since you're their leaders. I need you to keep them informed on decisions and to tell me how they respond. Alonzo, you should work with them, since you're second in command."

He then turned to Jennyanydots, to whom he always treated with such kindness, you'd think she were his grandmother. "Jenny, I need for you and Jelly to help any parents tell their kits what's going on, without scaring them...Oh, and we need to figure out how to keep them busy and entertained. Emergencies like this are worse for little ones, and we want to handle this as painlessly as possible for everyone. Besides annoying kids are usually targeted first when turning to cannabalism." He said this last bit with such an airy voice, that even Demeter gave a chuckle, as it was obvious he was trying to tell jokes to keep himself calm.

To this Jenny nodded respectfully, happy to have been given an assignment of which she considered of great importance.

"Skimble, keep at that radio and tell us if you ever find a signal. It's vitally important," said Webber, the railway cat already at the nobs again, trying to see if he could pick up anything.

"Cori, Tanto, if you happen to have any visions of how this will turn out, let Old Deuteronomy and me know. Also, keep alert to any signs of cabin fever, so we can know if anyone is cracking under pressure. We don't want any loonies having to be tied in the basement...Misto, whatever you can do to help out with your magic, whether it be keeping the fire going, or magicking us out during an extreme emergency, or just keeping everyone entertained so we don't go insane, well, you know what to do."

"Wait... what are we supposed to do?" asked Jake, who had been biting his tongue, angry Webber was instructing the Jellicles before the humans.

"I'm getting to that, Jake," said Webber wearily. "Now, Tugger, what your job will be, is to try and keep everyone destracted and busy. I don't care if they're laughing at you or drooling over you, I just don't want everyone going for the throat once the stress sets in. Play games, do random dance numbers, play the bagpipes! Just keep up morale."

Tugger was utterly speechless, both glad to be given such a fun sounding job, yet also strangely honored that Andrew would pretty much trust him with everyones' sanity.

Then Andrew turned softly to Demeter, who was almost trembling with fear because of the situation. "My dear, the only job I have for you, is to relax, and even enjoy yourself. If we need to get everyone out in a hurry, you and Munkustrap are our first priority."

"Thank you," she whispered, barely able to contain her gratitude for the man. She reached over and grabbed Munk's paw, who gave it a gentle squeeze in respone.

"Sir Andrew, we know you didn't mean for this to happen, you didn't mean to put the tribe in danger. So I just wanted to say, however this turns out, you're always going to be honored within the tribe," said Munkus, looking down solemnly as he said this.

Andrew just about wanted to throw his arms around the tabby, but before he could respond in any way, Jake stood up abruptly, fed up with being ignored.

"Sir Andrew, we really need to deal with the most important problems, such as making sure we have enough food and supplies to not only outlast a blizzard, but also to be ready to be snowed in for an unknown amount of time. And what about power? What about water, not just for drinking, but for washing and bathing. We need to focus on what's important."

"Alright then," sighed Andrew, deciding he might as well discuss jobs for the humans, since they were there!

* * *

_And now a_ _ brief intermission from the seriousness, to... whatever the hell you wanna call this random musical crossover between CATS and Wicked. And don't think this is pointless, because this is showing exactly how Misto and Jacob feel about each other._

Mistoffelees: "Dearest, darlingest, momzy and Aunt Griddle..."

Jacob: "My dear father..."

Both: "There's been some confusion over rooming here in the Swiss..."

J: "But of course I'll become a better dancer..."

M: "But of course I'll_ rise_ over it..."

Both: "For I know that's how you'd want me to respond  
Yes, there's been some confusion for you see, my room-mate is..."

M: "Unusually and exceedingly pecular and altogether quite impossible to describe..."

J: "Furry."

A slight pause

M: "What is this feeling, so sudden and new?"

J: "I felt the moment, I laid eyes on you..."

M: "My pulse is rushing..."

J: "My head is reeling..."

M: "My face is flushing..."

Both: "What is this feeling? Fervid as a flame.  
Does it have a names? Yes!:  
Loathing  
Unadulterated loathing..."

M: "For your face..."

J: "Your voice..."

M: "your clothing..."

Both: "Let's just say ~~ I loath it all!"  
Ev'ry little trait, however small  
Makes my very flesh begin to crawl  
With simple utter loathing  
There's a strange exhilaration  
In such total detestation  
It's so pure so strong!  
Though I do admit it came on fast  
Still I do believe that it can last  
And I will be loathing  
Loathing you  
My whole life long!

Jellicles: "Dear Quaxo you are just too good!  
How do you stand it? I don't think I could  
He's a terror! He's a tartar!  
We don't mean to show a bias  
But Quaxo you're a martyr!"

M: "Well... these things are sent to try us!"

Jellicles: "Poor Quaxo forced to reside  
With someone so disgusticified  
We just want to tell you:  
We're all on your side!  
We share your..."

Both: "Oh what is this feeling?"

Jellicles: "Loathing  
Unadulterated loathing  
For his face, his  
Voice  
His clothing  
Let's just say:  
We loath it all!  
Ev'ry little trait  
However small  
Makes our very flesh  
Begin to crawl...  
Ahhhh...

All: "Loathing!"

Both: "There's a strange exhilaration ~~~~~~~ Jellicles: "Loathing"  
In such total detestation  
In such total detestation  
So pure, so strong!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jellicles: "Loathing"

Jellicles: "So strong!"

Both: "Though I do admit  
It came on fast  
Still I do believe  
That it can last  
And I will be Loathing~~~~~~~~~~~ Jellicles: "Loathing"  
For forever loathing  
Truly, deeply  
Loathing you  
My whole life long!"

All: "Loathing  
Unadulterated loathing."

Jake: "Boo!"

Misto: "Hiss!"

* * *

_sigh, back to seriousness..._

Andrew stood at the top of the stairs, the Jellicles and humans all gathered at the bottom of the stairs waiting expectently for his instructions.

Old Deuteronomy had told the Jellicles to do whatever the man said, not putting up with their protests as he explained that here they had to follow a human leader. In the end, they had to do what Old Deuteromy said, realizing they had to for survival.

The humans were waiting with them, but seemed a lot more tense. Like they were already about to start some kind of power struggle or steal all the food and hoard it. There was a lot more murmuring among them, except for the small group that had been envited to the meeting, and many of them were angry Andrew had even brought them out there in the first place.

The man was sweating buckets, although he was determined to at least sound on top of things, at least long enough to hold everyone's respect so that they could film the musical after they got out of this. "I think the last thing I need to inform anyone here of is that there is a blizzard outside, because anyone who isn't aware of it is probably so far removed from reality, that my question is 'why are they here?'"

The humans stared up at him like he was insane, but the Jellicles took this as more of an indication that he was on top of things, a few smiling and looking around at each other hopefully.

"There are some things you need to know, though," continued Andrew, a little to giddily. "We have no radio or phone signals, and so have no idea of how long this storm is going to last. It could last for days, for all we know, so we're just going to have to wait it out."

You could have heard a pin drop, as one suddenly became aware of everything around them at once, like they were in some kind of strange twilight zone.

"Mistoffelees, cannot magic us out of the situation, because it might lead to the Jellicle secret being found out. If the rescue team gets here and we're already dug out, or back in England, it would raise too much suspicion. I'm going to lay down some ground rules to help us, but it's really nothing majore..." he seemed to trail off here, as he looked away evilly. "So, until further notice, consider yourselves snowed in."

* * *

**Okay, so what'cha think? The random musical number, wasn't it... surprising? I'd love to hear!**


	10. The soup that wasn't soup, and more kits

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**What a day, some crazy people brought a bird to the lab where I work, and we're not allowed to have animals inside the building (only livestock outside, and then we can only use their DNA and cells, so they're not tortured). They found DNA contamination, and I almost got in trouble. Now I have to work in my small, baige room that has no windows, with the heavy metal door closed as well to avoid cross-contamination from one part of the building to another. My world just keeps getting smaller.**

**Oh yeah, please review!**

* * *

_That night at dinner..._

A very angry Bryn Walters sat at the dinner table, Plato on his left, and Asparagus Jr on his right. He was extremely angry because he didn't like any of it. How they were responding to being snowed in, the rules Webber had made, the seating arrangement, and the food being served.

On the table was roast beef and caramlized onions, but it came with optional garum, or rotted fish guts, which the Jellicles, like the ancient Romans, used like ketchup.

Webber had decided that to conserve resources, the Jellicle food and human food would be served together so as to make both last as long as possible.

They might serve an entree of what the cats liked to eat, with sides of human food, or the other way around, or any combination as long as it included some of both. It was going to get interesting.

He also hated the other rule about serving food and mealtimes Webber had come up with, as he heard it echo in his head.

_All meals are to be eaten together at the long table in the dining room with all present, three times a day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is to ensure we know everyone eats, without worrying about people and Jellicles alike snacking needlessly throughout the day as so many do. Exempt from this rule of course, are anyone here who is pregnant, young children or kittens, as well as the elderly, as they need more sustenance and shouldn't be forced to abide to such strict control of food. Any human_ _found stealing or hoarding food, however, will be strapped down and force fed a buchet or garum. _

And to him, the worst bit was sitting next to his jellicle, not that it was a rule, the cat had just come up and sat down next to him.

To him, the cat was about as good for conversation as a hunk of wood. Not paying attention to anything he said, just eating his food slowly and occassionally smiling to some other cat at the other end of the table. It was torture.

"So, are you and Victoria still mates?" asked the dancer, hoping to at least get a nod of the head or something.

To this Plato just gave a small nod, as he finished the last bites of his meatloaf and sopped up what was left of the garum with some bread.

"You know that's disgusting, right?" he said, wrinkling his nose, as the Jellicle happily sunk his teeth into the bread repeatedly, savoring the taste.

Plato completely ignored everything Bryn said, as he was so good at doing, being mute. Instead he focused on the delicious food, something he was also good at.

"Well, I'll see you later," said Bryn, turning around angrilly, when a certain kitten came running up to him.

Plato saw her as well, his tiny daughter Grizabella, giggling loudly and swishing her tail, her whole face covered in garum sauce.

The young father turned around and opened his arms to her, to which the kitten let out a shriek and ran under the table, to which Plato smacked himself in the face in genuine frustration: it was his turn to bathe the kit.

_Oh, the frustrations of parenthood!_

To this Bryn just sighed, shaking his head. "I'm gonna go speak to Webber about the seating arrangement," he said, getting up.

* * *

Frank Thomson and Tony Timberlake stood in front of the sink washing dishes after dinner, with Asparagus Jr doing the drying.

"personally, I don't think taking meals together is so bad, it's a good way for us all to get to know each other better," said Frank, as he scrubbed a plate under the soapy water.

"Yeah, I don't see what that little runt Bryn is complaining about," agreed Tony, when he noticed a very disturbed looking Admetus sauntering into the kitchen, looking around as if in some kind of daze.

Noticing the men, he seemed to snap out of it, walking up to the sink and eyeing the contents suspiciously.

Without a word, Admetus picked up a laddle, dipped out some of the dish water, and took a gulp of it and then spitting and spluttering it out all over Frank and Tony. "This soup...it's terrible! What's in it?" he demanded, looking almost on the verge over a soup that wasn't really soup.

"Admetus, it's dishwater," said Frank, wiping off his face with his hand and narrowing his eyebrows at the Jellicle.

"Dishhhhwater?" asked the Jellicle, before briskly dropping to the floor and opening a cabinet. He reached inside and as soon as his hand was around the bottle of bleach, he popped back up to his feet faster than what would be considered normal, or even pleasant to see.

With his nose held high, he unscrewed the cap and set it down with his pinky raised, pouring in about half the container worth.

Picking up the laddle, Admetus dipped it again and top a long, heavy gulp from it, smacking his lips and wiping his mouth. "That, is how you make good dishwater," he said, with one eye twitching. "I don't know what that other stoff you were making was, but..."

"Admetus, you do realize that's enough bleach to kill a mule," said Asparagus Jr, pollitely coming between the two men and the deranged Jellicle.

"But it's soooo good," said Admetus with relish, as he filled the laddle again and took off like a road runner, Asparagus Jr hot on his heels.

* * *

Jenny and Jelly, Susan Jane Tanner and Susie McKenna, surrounded by kittens.

Jenny's youngest three, as well as Jelly's littlest ones, Cori and Tanto's adopted kits, Exotica's three even though her mate stayed home, Jemima's little one's with Misto, and Electra's one kitten, the father being unknown.

_Griza wasn't with the group, as she was getting a much needed bath; unfortunately for the parents the garum doesn't taste as good dried onto a fury face._

They sat in front of the fire that was kept going by magic, the older queens and women trying to keep the kittens entertained during the storm that was raging outside.

They were doing a pretty good job, too, as the kittens were watching the fire fascinatedly as it changed colors every few seconds.

Their ohhs and ahhs were so syncrinized you would think it was planned, as they all stood excitedly as the fire suddenly turned from cobalt blue to a striking magenta.

One of the smaller kittens, a four year old old brown and white spotty queen with bright green eyes, stepped really close to the fire, leaning over too far.

"Careful Spotstical, don't burn your whiskers," warned Jenny, as she tried to pull the kitten back, but too late.

"Eeeeaak," cried the small queen, as her whiskers were pretty much singed off her face, leaving burnt little edges and a black smoke ring.

"Everyone back!" shooed Susan, Jelly helping her as she and the woman stepped between the group and the fire.

Pretty soon their small party was in an uproar, as the emotional, frightened kittens started to cry out for their parents. Some tried to run off, others grabbed onto the older queens legs, others curled up in little balls, but it was obvious they wouldn't be quiet for a while.

But really, it was kinda understandable. With a storm outside, a crying queen who had just had her whiskers burned off, too many people and other cats around as well as each other's negative energy... it was just too much to take.

"Spotstical!" said Electra, as she saw the commotion and hurried into the middle of it, rushing over to Jenny. Taking the kitten from her, she asked, "what happened to her whiskers?" She put her paw around Spotsical's chin, pulling her close so that she could take a good look to make sure she didn't actually get burned.

"They were burned off when she got too close to the fire," said Jenny, before adding, "and let this be a warning to the rest of you," addressing the other kittens, who layed back their ears at her tone.

"Come on, kit," sighed Electra, turning as she got a better grip on her daughter and headed toward the stairs. "We'll get you up to my room and take care of your face. Oh gee, just wait until my room mate find out I'm a"-"Electra?" called Leah, her eyes going wide at the sight of her Jellicle holding the little queen. "You have a kitten?"

* * *

**Okay, so I really hope you like it, please review and leave any advice! Tell me what I'm doing wrong, tell me what I'm doing right, I just like hearing from yall.**

**By the way, who can guess who the father is?**


	11. Electra's truth

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Sorry its another short chapter, I'll add more stuff in the next chapter update, but please review anyway!**

* * *

_Two a.m., the worst possible time for a parent to be awake..._

Electra finally got Spotstical to go to sleep, after cleaning her face and making her hold ice to it, treating the burnt remains of her whiskers, and hours of wimpering, the tiny queen was sleeping in her bed.

Her whiskers were now tiny little burnt barbs that were now each wrapped in tape so as too protect them since cats feel with them, making one want to cry and laugh at the same time at the sad yet silly sight, even as she slept.

"She seems like a handful," commented Leah, laying back on a soft chair in the dark room, trying to force herself to get up and get ready for bed.

"Yeah... the little furry muffin is sometimes more trouble than she's worth," said Electra in a joking voice, although it wasn't really funny. It was obvious she was exhausted and frustrated, the bags under her eyes and lumbering movements giving her away.

"She's very pretty," said Leah, looking at the sleeping queen, who was gripping her face with her paws. But it felt as though a question was looming over both of them, one the woman was afraid to ask, but the Jellicle already knew. A question that had been asked or gossiped about for the past four years, a question most were too polite to ask.

"So Electra... I was wondering..."-"You can ask, I already know what your going to say," said Electra with a sigh.

Leah stared at Electra for a second, shocked and unsure, as she still hesitated on the question. "Wh-who's the father?" she finally asked tentatively.

"Everyone asks that, but I've hardly told anyone. Just a few souls who I trust to know about it... but the father is Macavity," she said, with an air of maturity but also a sense that she was proud of this.

"Macavity?" Leah could barely say it, completely unprepared for this. She would have sooner bought that the Jellicles were real than believe her character would have a kitten with the Nepoleon of Crime.

"I know what you're thinking, that he's evil and insane, and I'm a traitor," stated the Jellicle, laying back. "But please, let me explain."

The human responded only with silence, but her slow breathing and shocked expression seemed to give way for just a moment, as she nodded for the Jellicle to continue.

"You see, a few weeks after the Jellicle Ball, I was walking in cat form through some allys on my way home from Victoria's, when I saw something behind one of the garbage cans. as I got closer, I heard a pained moan and I noticed it moving, and I realized it was an injured cat. I immediately rushed to help it, since it was bleeding and covered in burns and garbage, but then I pulled the garbage away and saw it was Macavity." As she explained all this, she shuddered slightly, as if such a horrible memory could bring about physical revulsion. "...my first instinct was to run... but then I saw the flies, all over his wounds, buzzing around so loudly they were all I could hear...I-I c-couldn't leave him."

Leah felt a wave of nausea pass through her at the thought, the mental image playing before her eyes as she almost swore she heard the sound of flies buzzing around the room.

"I brought him back to my den in an old apartment building and there cleaned his wounds and treated his burns the best I knew how, keeping it a secret from the others. And when he woke up I made him eat some chunks of mouse...even though he wouldn't talk." She added this last bit as if just remembering it, although just by the eureka look on her face you could tell it was important. "Instead he just stared in confusion as I cared for him, and when he finally did speak, I had come home and found him wandering around like a lost puppy. He seemed surprised to have been rescued, and just told me thank you, and then asked for some food. It was so strange... he kept asking me what happened, and I kept explaining it to him... finally one day while looking out a window at some power lines, he said he thought it was the shocks."

"You mean when he used those cables to cause an electric surge so he could escape without being seen?" asked Leah, speaking for the first time since Electra started telling her this.

"Hmmmm, it caused him to lose a lot of memory, but it slowly came back. Yet somehow he didn't go crazy like I thought he would. You see, he's a genius, but he's also mad with power, often doing things he can't explain. Like trying to just pick up Demeter and run off with her, or the first times he experienced uncontrollable anger... he's just so unstable, that's why he turned to doing acts of evil: as a means of living out what he thought he had to be...but when he told me this, he was almost serene. It was the Electric shocks."

"So you mean he's crazy, not evil?" asked Leah, wrinkling her nose in confusion.

"Oh, he used to be evil, but his reason and justification for being that way was that he was crazy, which is quite a paradox, but even he knew that in a way," she shrugged, as if the idea of him being evil didn't scare her now that she knew why. "But when he begun to remember things, he decided to try and change, and he started to discover he actually could love again. I learned that even though I have a bullet proof heart, it doesn't matter, because he has an armor peircing personality. We lived together for about two years, during which time I barely visited anyone, but he was great company."

"Your in love with the Nepoleon of Crime," stated Leah, her hands beginning to shake at the madness and excitement of it. "Now that's the shit, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but there were hard times... sometimes madness would overtake him, and he would roll on the floor biting his paws until it passed, or else lock himself in a room until he felt the compulsion to go and do something horrendous went away, because he now had a reason fight it, he said."

"So when did she come along?" asked Leah, pointing at Spotstical, who was dead to the world.

"Well, when I told him I was expecting, he felt so scared he locked himself in a closet for several hours, worried he would lose control for some reason. It was difficult on me, because despite how helpful and kind he was, he started having more and more rages, the closet became a place for him to go to calm down... it was obvious whatever those shocks did wasn't permanent, but he so wanted to have control of himself so he could stay with me and raise his kitten." A single tear ran down the Jellicle's face, as she found her voice fail for just a moment, as if reliving the sad times. "...When Spotstical was born, he was afraid to hold her. He was terrified, he looked at her like she would explode, although it was because he was afraid of losing control and hurting her. In the end I had to beg him to take her; he was bawling by that point."

"So what happened after that?" asked Leah, truly fascinated by all this, even though it was late and she didn't want to accidentally sleep in and miss breakfast, it was worth the risk.

"He was a good father, but his mental state kept deteriorating. He once locked himself up for three days after picturing himself clawing up Spotstical's face, and then found a shredded picture of her in his paws. He knew he couldn't ward off his madness forever, no matter how much he loved us... So when Spotstical was only one, he went away to seek help, from an old Pollicle psychic who treats the mentally ill. He's still in treatment."

"So he pretty much checked himself into the Jellicle/Pollicle equivalent of a mental ward?" asked Leah, feeling as though this was both ludicrus and tragic at the same time.

"I guess you could say that, I've visited him a few times, and he's slowly improving. Last time I saw him, he didn't remember me at first. But when he finally did, he held me and kissed me repeatedly for almost a full minute. Spotstical writes to him and draws him pictures, they're all over the walls of his room, and he writes to her. He hasn't had any rages or flashbacks for a month, since they've started a new treatment." She paused here, looking off into space thoughtfully as a look of resoluteness seemed to rise over her features. "Someday we'll have him back."

* * *

Jo sat curled up on one of the big couches next to the fireplace, staring at the the few softly glowing embers that remained of the fire, trying to fight off the sleepiness as she tried to figure out the confusing slury of emotions that spun in her head.

_"Why?"_ was the question tha consumed her thoughts, as if that one word held some secret meaning which was ineffable.

And really, why? Why was she so angry at Drew? Why wasn't she upset with Cettie? And why the hell was she still even awake?

Slowly she turned the ashes of the smoldering logs with a poker and then set it back in its holder beside the fireplace, getting up off the couch and turning to one of the front windows.

She walked over to the window in her bare feet, staring out blankly into the dark storm that made it impossible to see anything, not even the slightest hint of moonlight.

"You're crazy," she told herself, setting a hand on the cold glass. "You're probably not even going to live through this, and you're worried about your best friend dating... a member of another species."

This idea ran through her mind a bit, fighting for attention with everything else on her mind, like that fact that it had set in that they might all die.

As she looked out the window, she reflected on this, when the woman slowly became aware of the feeling of being watched.

Cautiously she turned, every muscle in her body stiff from fear that someone had heard her and was watching, only to have that fear confirmed, as she caught a glimpse of a cloaked figure slinking back up the stares.

* * *

**You people have been wondering about Macavity, well, now you know. I put him in a mental ward, the Nepoleon of Crime in a mental ward... makes sense.**

**So please review and tell me what you think!**


	12. Yarn, random song, and Exotica briefly

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Hey people, sorry it's been so long, but I've been busy.**

**Oh, and to Wombaat, that review on your story Cause and Effects, I put that up, I just forgot to sign in. Just wanted to clear that up because I hate being forgetful and especially when giving someone a review. So sorry**

* * *

_The morning after Electra and Leah's conversation and Jo got the scare of her life, this was happening..._

"Okay, seriously though, what are you doing?" asked Bryn, sneering at the work in Michael Gruber's hands, as he knitted away happily in front of the fire, the storm _still _going on outside.

"Knitting a scarf, would you like to learn how?" he asked, continuing to knit as he spoke. **(It's true, the man knits! He said so in an interview.)**

"Okay... so when did you become a"-"Bryn, you're walking on thin ice. We're warning you," admonished Webber, as he gave a lounging Tumblebrutus and Pouncival's bellies a nice rub.

At this Bryn balled up his hands into fists and skulked away, anger radiating from him so furiously you could feel it from across the room.

"Why'd you pick that runt?" asked Tumble, as he rolled back onto his stomach, allowing Webber to scratch his back, Pouncival on the other side of the playwrite, about comatose from the belly rubs.

"Don't call him that," said Webber, removing his hand from the back of the dissapointed Jellicle as he stared after Bryn. "We don't need to have an attitude." _"Plus we don't need to be making enemies in case there's a mutiny," _the man thought worriedly.

"You know, maybe I'll give Bryn something hand knitted to make peace with him for whatever he has agains't us," said Michael, as he reached for another ball of yarn, swiping at it as it rolled from his grip.

"Yarn!" yelled both Tumble and Pounce as they dove for the yarn, scrabbling at it and knocking it back and fourth.

"Hey, that's expensive yarn," called Michael, standing up with the knitting stuff still in his hands.

"Can it, Gruber. You should be observing them, taking in their gracefull movements, their majestic leaps and sense of what their prey is going to do next. All of which stems fron an innate hunting instinct," said Webber, standing up and gesturing to the two Jellicles as Pounce attempted to pounce on it and fell flat on his face as the ball of yarn was snatched out from under him by Tumble.

"Quick, the camera!" yelled Webber, Old Deuteronomy grabbing it off the table and fumbling with it as he wobbled over as fast as he could. **(I know 'wobbled' isn't a very dignified word to use for such a noble cat, but that's the best he could do when it came to moving fast.)**

He turned it on and pointed it at the two wrestling teens, dodging as the ball of yarn was tossed at his head and Tumble went after it, turning to fillm the youngster unraveling it.

Gruber was shocked and amused at the same time at this, as he turned with his mouth open from Webber to the two Juveniles playing with the yarn to the old Jellicle monarch filming.

Pouncival grabbed at the yarn as Tumble stood over it and hissed, until he settled down on his haunches and leapt at Tumble, knocking him off of it and turning a three-sixty and going straight for the yarn.

Suddenly, everyone's favorite spoilsport came upon the scene, as the silver tabby came down the stairs and saw the mayhem taking place. "What the- Old Deuteronomy, are you filming!" he half yelled, completely shocked and appalled.

"No, I'm just pointing a camera that's not turned on at these kits doing something exceedingly silly that we might not have the opportunity to film later. What do you think I'm doing!" he said, as he turned again to catch Pounce trying to get the yarn unwound from around his belly, the ball trailing after him with Tumble chasing after.

"But but but," stammered the tabby, covering his eyes as if he couldn't watch.

"If you're worried about the Jellicle secret, don't worry. Mistoffelees can magically edit the film to make it look like they're actors in costume," sighed Webber, as if he slightly regreted this.

As the two juveniles fought and pounced and got more and more tangled up, the humans and Jellicles present simply watched, wondering how long it would last.

* * *

Jeoffry Garrat and Veerle Castelyen stood walked into the basement, tired of being snowed in and wanting to see if maybe the Jellicles could help them

(and no, I'm not doing a romance between the two, I'm just giving them a common interest in this one scene.)

But as they stepped into the room what they saw before them was shocking: Jellicles splayed out on the floor wearing party hats and costumes, some holding noise makers, some in makeup. All out like a light after what was obviously quite a bash.

They stood in silence as they took in the room, Victorian interior, red carpet, behind them a steel elevator, and a silver and velvet throne at the other side of the room.

Slowly Veerle leaned over to Garrat. "Say something," she whispered as her eyes scanned the room.

Garrate said in a loud, joking voice, "say." The entire room immediately sitting up and looking at them. "One of you guys know how to madison?"

To this he got a slightly amused response from the Jellicles as Veerle pulled on his sleeve and said, "Garrat, please. Let's get out of here."

"For God's sake keep a grip on yourself Veerle."

"But it se- it seems unhealthy here," she got out, as the Jellicles begun to get up and move closer to them.

"It's just a party Veerle," said Garrat, as they begun to walk backwards toward the elevator.

"Well I wanna go," she said, continuing to back up as the elevator begun to come down behind her.

"Well we can't go anywhere until we're all rescued. Maybe I should a for help on the phone."

"Then ask Webber or someone," as she said this it cuts to a shot of sparkly high heels as the elevator continues to descend.

"Just a moment Veerle, we don't want to interfere with their celebration.

"This isn't the junior chamber of commerce, Garrat."

"Well they're obviously Jellicles, with ways different than our own. They may do some more... folk dancing," he said, looking out at them as they laughed awkwardly.

"Look we're trapped and it's still snowing and I"m just plain scared," she said before turning to the elevator, her eyes growing wide at the sight of the back of the figure inside.

"I'm here, there's nothing to worry about," he said with a goofy smile, just as the figure turned around and Veerle gave a shriek and fell down and the guy finally looked and saw it as well.

The Tugger's maine was dyed black and curled and his face was painted very pale, his lips blood red, and around his shoulders covering most of his body was a black cloak with a high, curled collar.

The elevator door opened and he grinned slightly before starting in a Tim Curry voice:

Tugger: "How d'you, I  
See you've met my  
Faithful handyman.

Pauses and leans in close to Garrat.

T: "He's just a little brought down  
Because when you knocked  
He thought you were the candy man.

Then begins strutting across the room and the Jellicles make way as he continues...

T: "Don't get strung up by the way I look.  
Don't judge a book by it's coverrr.  
I'm not much of a man by the light of day  
But by night I'm one hell of a loverrrr.

Gets up on the stage the throne sits on and turns around throwing off his cloak, revealing a tight silver corset vest, a legless metallic bottom piece, see-through leggings, and a pearl necklace...

T: "I'm just a sweet transvestite  
From stransexual, Transylvaniaaaah!"

...Comes down off stage and heads toward Garrat and Veerle...

T: "Let me show you around.  
Maybe play you a sound.  
You look like you're both pretty groovy."

Gets behind them and starts pushing them farther into the room as they turn and face him.

"Or if you want something visual  
That's not too abysmal  
We could take in an old Steve Reeves movie."

Turns and heads toward water filter and gets himself a cup.

G: "I'm glad we caught you at home.  
Could we use your phone.  
We're both in a bit of a hurry."

V: "Right."

Tugger turns and looks at her strangely and then begins greeting the Jellicles that are there with them.

G: "We'll just say where we are,  
And they're send a rescue car.  
We don't want to be any worry."

T Throws cup of water.

T: "We'll you've got caught in this flat, well, how about that?  
We'll babies, don't you panic."

Struts back toward stage while singing. T: "By the light of the night it'll all seem alright.  
We'll get you a ride on a galvanic, pneumatic." **(sorry people, had to adapt it)**

Swinging hips with Jellicle in golden suite with top hat continues. T: "I'm just a sweet transvestite. From Transexual, Transylvaniaaaah!"

Sits down and swings legs over side of throne. T: "Why don't you stay for the night?"

~"night"

T: "And maybe have a bite."

"Bite." says female Jellicle eyeing his leg.

T: "I could show you my favorite obsession.  
I've been making a man.  
With blond hair and a tan.  
And he's good for relieving my... tension.  
I'm just a sweet transvestite..."

Slowly gets up.

T: "...From transexual, Transylvaniaa haha.  
Hey hey!  
I'm just a sweet transvestite.~~~~ (sweet transvestie)  
From transexual, Transylvania.

Pushes past them and them and gets back into elevator.

T: "So - come up to the lab  
And see what's on the slab.

Veerle looks over at Garrat as Tugger gives her a look.

T: "I can see you shiver in antici -pation."

Veerle jerks back at this.

T: "But maybe this snowy-rain  
Isn't really to blame.  
So I'll remove the cause."

Veerle gives him a smile.

Elevator door closes.

T: "But not, the symptom!"

Elevator ascends taking the transvestite Tugger with it, leaving two confused actors as to what the heck just happened.

* * *

Tantomile and Exotica sat quietly in an empty room, just enjoying a nice conversation.

"So I've been avoiding my actor like the plague"-"you avoid everyone like the plague except me and Cassi," inturrupted Tanto, as she took a sip of water from the cup she was holding.

"It doens't matter. I make sure I'm not easily noticed. She won't need to meet me to play me," sighed the Jellicle, leaning up against the wall as she licked her paw.

"She wants to meet you. I read her mind," stated the psychic, as if she didn't really care she could invade anyone's privacy on a whim.

"So how are the kits?" asked Exy, changing the subject so randomly you'd think she was bi-polar.

"I mean it, she says it's an honor to be allowed to play you, to understand what role you played at the Jellicle ball"-"we both know I didn't play any role. I just showed up. I stay hidden and when I'm noticed I confuse people as to why I'm there for my own amusement. That's it."

"Why is that?" asked Tanto, not prying into her friend's mind so as to have a real conversation with her as she did like to do with friends, even if Exy wouldn't say it.

"... I can't allow myself to be happy. Mo-moments of happiness, we share the experience, but miss the meaning... I can't even share in the experience," she got out, looking away from Tanto's kind eyes.

"And why is that," asked Tanto, giving her a slight grin as if to say she could tell her anything.

"...I just can't. That's it."

"Exy, even you don't understand what you're getting at."

"I know, but I don't know any other way to be... and- I can't stay here. Not to inspire an actress to be something I'm not." And then with a guilty look she said to Tanto. "goodbye, Milly." And suddenly she snapped her fingers and was gone in a puff of smoke, leaving Tanto alone to cry for her sad, lonely friend.

* * *

**Oh, it's gone Rocky Horror! Please review, because we all know that we've all pictured Tugger doing that number!**


	13. Creepy Admetus, and two stuck kits

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Sorry it's been so long since I updated, but still, enough with apologies. Please review!**

* * *

_That night at dinner, a very strange conversation was going on between Admetus and, of all cats, Victoria, as well as Phyllida and Jo Bingham, Etcetera's actress._

"And so then I said, 'wait, so you're my sisster? That makes no sensse! you'rre so hot," he said, accentuating his accent to show off to the beautiful human girls, trying to make himself seem hot by using the fact that he was foreign.

Of course, they were totally freaked out by him. Both unable to close their mouths or even blink, until Phyllida laughed awkwardly and elbowed Jo to do the same, neither wanting to come across as rude, as Victoria ignored both of them, wanting to keep the peace between her mate and her strange brother in law.

"That was an interesting story Admetus, so why don't you tell the girls more about yourself," said vicky, as she absentmindedly took a sip of the rat soup from her bowl, (although the human's were told it was beef).

"Isn't he from Romania?" asked Jo, figuring that was his country of origin based on his accent, and frankly, wouldn't anyone guess the same way?

"Me? No, my nanny was Romanian, that's where I got the accent from, but I couldn't tell you my country of origin," he said with a slight shrug.

"And why is that?" asked Jo, raising an eyebrow at this, wondering why this Jellicle was just so bizzare.

"Well, here in Switzerland it's illegal to say it's name, in England they won't show it on any of their maps, there are eight names for it in Eastern Europe, but unfortunately no one from Western Europe or the UK could pronounce them and they can't be spelled in English because it would break every English grammer rule, most American's don't even know this country exists, and the UN won't acknowledge us as a country," he said with a sigh, as he shook his head with regret and took a long gulp of soup.

"I see..." said Phylla, curious now. "So where is this place?"

* * *

Tumble and Pounce sat back to back, tied to each other by the yarn.

They had been like this all day, having no idea how their game got this out of hand or how they had ended up like this, but this was the result, and this is how they stayed, all day. Would no one rescue them? I mean, seriously, why don't one of you guys rescue them, huh?

"Mhhhh, how is this yarn so frick'in strong! What'd they do, spin it with steal wool?" asked Pounce as he tried to pull free from the tangled mess.

"Dang it, we're missing dinner! Will nobody rescue us?" he called into the dining room, where Munkustrap turned around from his chair. "No, nobodie's going to rescue you because you were bad."

"You're horrible Munk!"-"You need to go bite off you're own head!" inturrupted Pounce, trying to roll out of the yarn to escape, pulling Tumble with him.

"Hey, stop that Pounce! And what the crud, that's physically impossible. If you're going to tell him to do something, at least make it something that could actually happen. Like, have someone tie him in a room full of spiders and cover him with pheromones that smell like mating season to them," said Tumble, laughing to himself at the thought.

At this Pounce just about froze, that was a little too sick even for his immature, adolescent mind. "Oh yeah? Well why not impregnate him with snake eggs so that when they hatch the only way for them to get out is to eat their way out of his stomach?" Might as well out gross him, he figured.

"Are you kits just going to go on about how you're gonna kill me, because it's this kinda attitude that's made everyone decide to leave you like this," sighed Munkus, finishing his soup and getting up from the table.

"Come on, we're just kidding, now get us out of here, we're starving!" they whined, both pulling on the yarn in opposite directions at once, getting nowhere as a result.

"I know kits, so here you go," said Munk, picking up two bowls of soup and bringing them over to the tied up miscriants, putting one down in front of each.

"Hey, how do you expect us to eat this, aren't you going to untie us?" asked Tumble, as he tried to lean down and take a sip, pulling Pounce up onto his back as he bent down, but the soup stayed out of reach.

"Sorry kits, you'll have to escape on your own. Remember, you've been bad," said Munk, good naturedly winking and heading up the stares, leaving the two still tied kittens to figure out how to get to their soup.

* * *

"I hate toms."

"No you don't, you're just saying that," said Rosemarry, as she brushed her hair, Bomba sitting on one of the beds licking her paws and grumbling about males and how horrible they are.

"All they've ever wanted of me is to just be their own little sex kitten, especially Tugger," she huffed, messing up her head fur angrilly as she ran her paws through it, although she didn't really care.

"Then why do you love him so much?" asked Rosemarry, seriously turning to the queen and sitting on the bed next to her. "I'm not joking, if that's all he sees you as, why do you love him so much?"

There was a tone of such total seriousness in Rosemarry's voice, that Bomba knew the woman wanted complete honesty. But it was so hard to talk about, since she loved Tugger so much, but was so hurt by him.

It made no sense, it lacked all logic! Why should she love such a total jerk? Why did she yearn day and night to hear him say he loved her, to have him treat her as the queen she was, and not the object he always saw her as? Why was she so desperate for his genuine, honest, raw self to actually be able to love her?

"I know I can't change him... but I don't want to have to. I want him to decide on his own, and even if he doens't, I won't have given up on the tom who I gave myself to in every way, opened up to and trusted. Even if he was only in it for the sex, I've told him things he never told another soul, I've trusted him with my very life and self, and he's stayed loyal in that way... I can't love another tom," she said, looking down at the bed as tears begun to well up in the corners of her eyes, and Rosemarry put an arm around her.

"I...I'm gonna be alone for the rest of my life," she sobbed, covering her eyes as the tears spilled down her face. "B-but I won't have given up."

_She didn't know it, but at that very moment, Tugger was admiring the collar he had picked out for her before the trip, planning the exact moment when he would pop the question._

* * *

"Ya know, you tou are actally prittie decorat've. woi, 'e coud pu' a noice doily on you, and a ming vase on ya eds'," said Teazer, walking back and fourth around the two tied up adolescents, smirking as they continued to struggle to get free.

"No, just let us go, today's been hell," said Tumble, as he continued to struggle to get his paws free, although his attempts were in vain.

"Meh, too much fun watchi'n ya," smiled Jerrie, putting a paw around his sister's waist. "Besides, you woudn' learn a lesson if... wait, wot we try'in to 'each em again?"

"I don kno," shrugged Teaze, before looking back and fourth to check no one was listening, and then leaning over and whispering in her mates ear. "Jerrie, wen we pull'in our eist?"

"Shhh, whenev'r our stup'd uman's get over their little love spat," hissed Jerrie, cautious to speak about this within earshot of anyone.

"Presto!" Suddenly with a huge puff of smoke that filled the whole room and then vanished without a trace, all the yarn was in a neat little blue ball, and the two youngtsters were free.

"Misto!" Pounce and Tumble yelled, jumping up and running for the tux, pouncing on him and forcing him into a hug.

"Hey, let go, don't make me regret releasing you two, or I might put you back!" threatened Misto, trying to break out of the overly tight hug.

"Sorry," they said in unison, letting the magician go.

"Good, now get out of here so I don't have to see you, or next time we have rat soup, you two will be the rats."

Unfortunately, every human present heard this last remark, and as for the scene that followed... well, let's just say it isn't even worth describing, as printing it would be illegal in eighteen countries, including Admetus's.

* * *

**Okay, so what'cha think? Funny and dramatic? Please review!**


	14. Secrets during the night

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Hey people, I'm kinda sad, because summer is almost over and I only have until the tenth to work at the ag center, meaning I only have until then to enjoy working with the horses. :(**

**And the worst part is that I just found out _today_ that they still have a certain mare I became very fond of, because they hadn't brought her up from the field before. **

**Oh well, sadness is good inspiration, even if what I wind up writing is humorous. Please review!**

* * *

_11:30 at night, everyone either asleep or being sick from the rat soup. Okay, ALMOST everyone._

John Partridge was busily going through his drawers, making sure he had clean clothes set aside for the next day. But as he looked through the neatly folded clothes, he begun to notice a few things...

"Um... Tugger? Can you tell me why all of my pairs of socks are now miss-matched?" he asked, holding up a pink stripped sock and a white and black sock that had been folded together. "I mean, really? You've been going through my socks?"

"Maybe..." teased Tugger, as he lounged out on his bed, hiding a smal pile of socks he had nicked for himself under the mattress. His smirk was unreadable to the actor, who had no idea of what he had been up to, which was stealing his socks. But John was about to get an even weirder surpri-

"Tugger! Did you replace all of my boxers with panties?" asked John in an unsteady voice, as he held up the article in question, a slightly warped, confused smile spread across his face.

"No, who did that?" asked the Jellicle, sitting up and raising an eyebrow, pretending he knew nothing about it.

"Right, okay," smirked the actor, unconvinced as he put the panties back in the drawer and closed it, opening the one at the top and rumaging through it.

But what he was looking for wasn't there, as he turned slowly again to look at the Jellicle, his eyes wide in shock but with a smile of pure amusement on his face. "Tugger," he asked, running a hand through his hair. "Did you take my Dr Frank-N-Furter costume? It seems to be missing." And then there was a slight pause, in which John's features softened, and he asked, "Tugger, is there something you need to tell me?"

"What, no. I mean, maybe you need to explain why you even have that costume!" said Tugger, deciding to take the offensive stance.

"Hmmm, we both need a drink, just a moment," said John, walking over to the bar.

He looked in the cabinet and pulled out the first bottle he saw, which happened to be a bottle of vanilla vodka. He also pulled out two shot glasses and some ice. Still wondering how to get the cat to let the cat out of the bag, he poured the drinks slowly, when he got an idea. An idea that included touching on a sore topic.

Handing Tugger his shot glass, he smiled, raising his own glass in a toast. "Here's to you and Bomba, and may your cross-dressing tendencies not get in the way of your future together," he said, knocking back his shot in one gulp.

"I'm not a cross-dresser, I just borrowed your costume to scare some humans wandering around in the basement. I planned the whole thing," he said, shrugging as John raised an eyebrow to this.

"Okay, fair enough, but why did you replace all my boxer's with some woman's panties?" asked the actor, pouring himself another shot at the thought of asking around to find out who's they were.

"I just like to mess you with," said the Jellicle, taking the bottle from him and refilling his own glass.

"Well... that was just creepy. I mean, even if you were a tranvestite, that would still be creepy," cringed John, shaking his head in dissaproval. "...But, seriously, what about my socks?"

"What can I say," smiled the Tugger, knocking back his second shot. "I just like socks."

* * *

Karl Morgan (Pouncival's actor), walked back and fourth with a small video camera, filming everything in the room before turning on his heels to the black and white Jellicle sitting on the table with a guitar.

Alonzo had hardly left their room since they had gotten there, and he didn't really seem to show much interest in anything, too busy working on a song to think about anything.

"Well, I'm going to go for a walk. I don't suppose you'd like to come with, just to get out of the room for an hour," shrugged Karl, as Alonzo looked up at him cynically from his guitar.

"Right, and go where? Why don't you zoom in on this little snow globe we're trapped in," he said, brushing the human off.

"Tooshay..." he said, before adding as if just remembering, "take your AZT."

And then turning to the audience that wasn't there, as Alonzo acted like he wasn't there, started to explain as he held up the camera to Alonzo: "Close on Alonzo, his queenfriend left a note, saying, 'we've got feline aids,' before she slit her wrists outside their den."

He watched as Alonzo took his meds, and then said, "I'll check up on you later. Change your mind, you have to get out of the room." And then he left, taking his camera with him.

Alonzo sat on the table and bit his lip as he tried to think, half singing the words, "I'm writing one great song, before I..."

He drifted off here as he found he couldn't say it, and then begun playing a stream of notes, liking what he was hearing until he hit a wrong note and grazed the stings with his fingers in frustation, and then almost threw the guitar as he put it down behind himself in disgust.

He stared at it for a moment before reaching for his bottle of AZT, hestitating as he picked it up and looked at it as he shifted it through his fingers, haunching over and looking off into space.

Alonzo: "One song  
Glory  
One song before I go  
Glory  
One song to leave behind.

Find one song  
One last refrain  
Glory  
From the pretty boy front cat  
Who wasted opportunity.

One song  
He had the world at his feet  
Glory  
In the eyes of a young queen  
A young queen  
Find glory  
Beyond the cheap colored lights

One song  
Before the sun sets  
Glory - On another empty life  
Time flies - Time Dies!"

With this he clenched up his fists and stood up, running forward half bent over in frustration and grief, as he was barely able to control his overwhelming emotions.

"Glory - One blaze of glory  
One blaze of glory - Glory!"

He spread his arms wide as he sang this, so desperate, as he belted this out and slowly sat down, looking around the room with wide scared eyes as if he could find the song hanging in the air, even as the fear of the future hung above his head.

"Find  
Glory  
In a song that rings true  
Truth like a blazing fire  
An eternal flame

"Find  
One song  
A song about love  
Glory  
From the soul of a young cat  
A young cat

Find  
The one song  
Before the virus takes hold  
Glory  
Like a sunset  
To redeem this empty life."

As he sang this he slowly lifted his paws and looked at them desperately, shaking in grief and frustration as he thought about how his paws wouldn't find the right notes to play, and how they would too soon be still.

"Time flies  
And then - No need to endure anymore  
Time dies."

* * *

Bustopher Jones sat angrilly in his big chair in his private bedroom, frustrated with his diet.

_And really, what you're about to read may seem humorous, but honestly, I feel sorry for people as addicted to food as what I am about to describe. :( _

He just sat there in the dark room rubbing his temples with his thumb and index finger, his whole body refusing to go along with the changes he was trying to make, as he felt his paws shake from all the extra caffeine he had consumed to make up for not getting sugar, and the emptiness in his stomach from eating such controlled portions.

_"Think, you fat old moron! Where did you hide your stash?" _he thought to himself, trying desperately to remember where he hid the food he brought with him in case of emergencies.

Slowly he got up and looked around the room, his eyes scanning the bookshelves until they landed on a thick, leather bound volume, going wide in desire as his mind raced and he realized this was one of his hiding places.

He darted across the room to the book case, so fast it seemed almost impossible for someone of his size. Almost collapsing as he got to the shelf, he pulled down the book with fumbling paws as he opened it to the middle, the hollow cut out in it revealing the oh-so-sacred thing that he drooled for: a giant fudge bar.

Slowly he looked around the room to make sure nobody was watching, as he clutched the bar close to his chest and let the book drop, and he scratched off the paper.

_"Yes!"_ he thought to himself, tasting it's sweet deliciousness, as all the places in the room he had hid sweet and delicacies came back to him._ "I will live!"_

* * *

**Okay, so whatch'all think?**

**spoilers: In the next chapter, Jerrie and Teazer are going to talk about how they're going to get Drew and Jo to make up without breaking up Drew and Cettie. What do you think will happen?**


	15. The phone call

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Two words: College Ho!**

* * *

_2:30 a.m., everyone asleep, except for one desperate queen and a certain magical tom..._

"Really Electra? This late?" hissed Misto, as Electra pulled him down the stairs into the dark basement, looking around to check and see if the coast was clear.

As they entered the room and Electra shut the door behind them and turned on the lamp, you could just feel the fear coming from her like she were sweating it, a look of sheer longing on her face.

"Misto" she squeaked, and one thing is for sure, this punk queen _never_ sqeaked. "I might not get another chance to talk to him, and I miss him so much. Pl-please?" The way her voice faltered broke through the irritated tom's defenses and he simply nodded, wishing the other cats didn't know he was magical, because maybe then he could get some sleep.

Sighing and shaking his head, he picked up the old pay phone that was attached to the wall and begun waving his fingers over it, muttering under his breath as the ear and mouth peice begun to glow.

"Okay, it will take a second to connect, but it's dialing," said Misto, holding out the phone to Electra, who reluctantly took the phone from him, mouthing the word thanks to him as she waited and listened until she heard it ringing.

"You want me to leave?" asked Misto, to which Electra just shook her head no, not wanting to be alone when she did this.

And she waited...

"Hello?"

"Hello, may I speak to Macavity?"

"This is him speaking."

Electra almost dropped the phone in shock, quickly getting a grip of herself and saying in an unsteady voice. "Cavi... this is Electra. H-how are you doing, hon?" It sounded almost girlish, causing Mist to raise an eyebrow in thought, as he had never heard this tough, punk queen sound this way before.

"Electra? Oh babe... is everything okay? How are you and my little pipsqueak?" asked Macavity, in a voice that sounded like he had seen and known pain, and now just wanted something comforting to cling to.

"We're okay, I'm okay, now that I can at least hear you. And Spotsy's fine, although she managed burn off her whiskers," laughed Electra, still slightly humored about the concept, as if she knew that this would be one of those things they would all laugh about someday.

"Really? Same thing happened to me once, tell her that," said Mac, running a paw through his head fur as he said it, unsure of how to keep the conversation from turning to him and his situation, which he wanted to avoid. "Just tell the little pipsqueak that her daddy sends his love, and can't wait to recieve another one of her master pieces or one of her eloquently written letters."

"Mac you always tease," sighed Cettie in a flirtatious voice, as she ran her paw down her side, not caring that Misto was there watching her. "And yet I know how much those drawings and letters really mean to you."

Macavity chuckled at this, missing his love and kitten so much, laughter seemed to be the only way to deal with it. "...Yeah, I can't deny it. So just tell the little squirt I miss her, and if anyone teases her about the whiskers, tell her to ignore them..." He drifted off here as he scratched the wall next to the phone, his sadness at being seperated from his family slowly weighing more and more heavily on him. He could keep his voice calm and steady for now, but he would cry when he finally went to bed later.

"...but seriously Babe, how are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm okay, worried about a few things, but then again I always am, since there's still this wall between me and the rest of my family because I can't tell them..." she said with a sigh. She clutched the phone tightly between her paws, her mind racing as she leaned against the wall, as if this would ease some of the physical burden, when suddenly she realized something. "Cavi, it's 1:30 a.m in England... why are you awake so late?"

"I just don't sleep much these days, since I started this new treatment," said Macavity, trying to be vague about it.

"And, what is this new treatment they're doing?" asked Electra, running a paw across her face as she begun to feel worried for Mac.

"Well, Doc Pollicle, or Doc Polly as we call him... he's figured out that certain memory associations are linked with my outbursts, so we're trying something that's never been done before. First he exposes me to different sights or smells or sounds, and if one is linked to a memory that's connected with how I lost it that first time, he finds the memory and removes whatever it was in it that triggered the reaction. After that whatever the trigger was no longer has any affect on me. I mean, it's a painful process, but I feel as though I'm being set free from...myself," he said, his voice sounding as if he was finally finding some relief in this.

But Electra could only bring her paw to her mouth, her breaths long and forced. "...Cavi, he-he could damage your mind or even leave you totally catotonic! I mean, whhh-what if he erases your whole memory? Or, what if you become an entirely different cat, or"-"Electra! He knows what he's doing, he won't hurt or damage me or my mind," said Mac, hating himself for having to raise his voice to get her to stop.

"I'm just worried," she said in a slightly pouty voice, although it was obvious she was genuinely afraid of losing him.

"Electra, don't worry, he's only removing certain triggers. Not even whole memories, just certain images or other things related to the senses which cause me to lose it. That's all. I'm still you're Cavi, I'm still Spotsy's papa. I still like telling jokes at my own expense and watching others to come up with my own theories about why they're insane. I still like blue sunglasses and hate anything with animal skin on it. I still put almond milk on my cereal and like to get up at dawn to pretend to do yoga. I still enjoy toad catching and pressing wild flowers and films of boxing from the late Victorian era. My favorite genres of music are still opera-glitch-electro and anything broadway... I'm still me, Electra. I'm still me," he said, just wanting Electra to understand that it was safe, but more than anything that he had to do this.

"Cavi?..." whispered Electra, as the queen held back tears. "You lost me at 'I'm still your Cavi, I'm still Spotsy's papa."

This took Macavity aback, but he was glad to hear it. "Babe, I miss you so much"-"and I miss you!" insisted Electra, knowing they didn't have much time left to talk.

"Electra, Doc Polly says I can be out of here in six months if all goes well, although I'd still be an out patient... Just wait for me, I love you," he said, as if he had fully come to terms with all he would have to endure for the next six months to be allowed out.

"I love you too," said Electra, closing her eyes in fear and anticipation of the overwheling sadness that she new she couldn't suppress for much longer.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

And with that they hung up, Electra placing the phone back on the hook with a shaking paw, until she felt another paw on her shoulder.

"Electra?" asked Misto.

At first the queen just tried to brush him off, but as before she could push him to the side, she foud she couldn't do it, and accepted the tux's embrace, throwing her arms around him and not letting go as she cried into his shoulder.

* * *

_3:00 a.m., I mean, what the crud? Doesn't anybody sleep in this place?_

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer both layed on their backs in the bunk beds in their room, whispering to each other in the dark.

"Jerrie?"

"Yeah Teaze?"

"Wot are we gonna do abou' our humans? I mean, they're no good fo' burgler'in when they're fight'in."

"Don' you worry Teaze, Oi go' a plan."

"Oh reallay? Is this loik tha' plan where' you pretended to be the Rumpus Cat and ran into a bar full of"-

"No, no' loik that one at all. But I jus' figured since one of our 'umans is a love sick pollicle, woi no' turn the otha into one too."

"How ya gonna do tha'?"

"Well, you ever 'eard of 'Phantum of the Opera?"

"Yeah, I troid to drag you to a par-formance of it unce."

"Yeah... well I go' the perfect tom to charm Jo Phantom style, and once she's in love with 'im, she an Drew can make up."

"Ya a genius, Mungo, but um... who's the tom?"

* * *

_5:34 a.m... still an ungodly hour in my opinion, and that's when I get up every morning!_

"This better be good Skimble," grumbled Webber, as he tied his bath robe and trudged down the stairs after the Jellicle, almost slipping as his bunny slippers couldn't get any traction on the smooth surface of the stairs.

"It is, you know how we've been cut off from all communication for the past six days?"

"How could I forget," stated the playwrite, not even phrasing it as a question as he shook his head at the jellicle, Althought Skimble didn't seem to pick up on this.

"Well, we've finally gotten a radio signal," said Skimble, as he walked around a low table over to the mini two-way and begun turning the nobs on it, as it buzzed statically. He adjusted the antenna and tried to tune into the station that was coming through just minutes before. "I've been working on this round the clock, and-Oy there!" he exclaimed, as it suddenly picked onto the signal.

**"-Brrr brr breaking news and latest updates on the ccc-cc-current maga storm going on in the Alps."** The signal was wavy and broke occasionally, the repeating due to the signal being partially blocked due to damaged equipment, but at the moment all the playwrite and railway cat cared about was the fact that they were getting a signal at all.

**"Acc-cording to latest reports, the storm should blow itself within the next two days...S-stay where you are."**

"Ah, you think?" asked Webber to the radio, running a hand across his face. "I suppose we'll call another meeting at breakfast... so we might as well break into the good bacon."

* * *

**Yay, college and theater classes! Oh I am one happy little Jellicle. Please review!**


	16. A serious decision

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Hey people, sorry I've been gone for so long, I've just started college, and it's a total mess. Tons of misunderstanding about assignments and going overboard to compensate, becoming a total teacher's pet in the process (ugg). Apparently doing all 190 review problems by mistake instead of the practice problems in the chapter, really makes the instructor like you, which means the other students will hate you.**

**Oh well, I have some classes I'm really enjoying, and tomorrow what with the tropical storm, school's off. **

**Anyway, been working on this all week, since I haven't had time to sit down and right a whole chapter, so I wrote it a little at a time. So please review!**

* * *

Andrew stood at the head of the table, chipper and accentric as usual as he waited for all the tired actors and Jellicles to take their seats and pretend to listen. He wore a pink bathrobe and slippers with some unidentified plushy animal heads on them, and his smile seemed almost deranged, although that could be attributed to the fact that it was forced.

And he did a marvelous job at pretending not to notice how tired everyone looked as they dragged themselves to their seats.

Once it seemed everyone was present and accounted for, Webber did that thing where you tap a glass with a spoon repeatedly to get everyone's attention, affectively getting said attention.

"As I'm sure you were all informed, we finally received a radio signal after not hearing anything for days," begun the playwrite, to which the response was silent glares and maybe a few crickets chirping, as everyone at thee moment was pissed that he had dragged them out into the mountains in the first place.

"...And the good knews," continued Sir Andrew, pretending not to notice their glares, "is that the storm is blowing itself out, and should be over within the next day or so."

This did get a response, as everyone started looking around and some actually smiled, although there was that question that always hangs in the air, and after a minute, Bryn happened to raise his hand in a annoyingly knowing manner and asked the dreaded question, "so what's the bad news?"

To this Webber persed his lips, noting that Bryn was a trouble maker, and if there were any problems caused during the next several days, it would be Bryn who would first be tied up and interrogated.

"The unit that the rescue vehicles are deployed from... is currently buried under ten feet of snow," he choked out, finding he couldn't keep the information from eveyone.

At his words a cold feeling seemed to take over the environment, Andrew had everyone's attention.

Slowly, a lone paw rose above the heads of everyone at the table, trembling slightly as it begun to fall asleep right as Andrew noticed it.

"Yes?"

Tantomile slowly rose, looking up at the playwrite with fear written on her face. "Sir Andrew, may I please be excused? I don't want my kittens to hear this."

Andrew looked strangely at Tanto for a moment before nodding, realizing that the psychic queen had to look out for her own. "Are there any other cats who don't want their kittens to hear this?"

A few cats got up from the table, ushering their kits in front of them or pulling them by the paw out of the room, not wanting them to be scared by the serious discussion.

"Okay, so are there any more questions?" asked Andrew patiently, as he watched Victoria scurrying out of the room with Grizabella in her arms, them being the last to leave. "No? Alright then, so let me tell you what's going on."

He took a breath and put both hands in the pockets of his robe, looking down as he said, "the mountain potrol told us to stay put until they could come and get us, and they can't do that until the storm's over, and then once the storm is over, they can't rescue us until they've dug themselves out of the snow."

Someone else raised their hand, this time, Karl Morgan, who asked, "so we're stuck here until they can come and get us?" Of course, I normally wouldn't say there's any such thing as a stupid question, but...

"Well no shit, Sherlock," sneered Bryn, apparently unphased by the revelation that rescue still wasn't coming.

No one laughed, as they saw the look on Andrew's face, his eyes boring through Bryn like a hawk. "Bryn, profanity will not be tolerated at this table. If you speak up again, I will have to ask you to leave."

To this Bryn raised an eyebrow, but he didn't go any further than that, realizing it would be a mistake to challenge Andrew's authority.

"Alright, look... we need to agree either to wait for rescue, or have Misto transport us out immediately. So, we're going to have to take a vote..."

* * *

Mistoffelees lay in bed under the covers, feeling like someone had dropped an anvil on his head and then sucked all the energy out of him while simultaniously injecting him with pure grogginess, if that were even possible, that is.

He did not want to get up, he felt like a house had fallen on him, it just hurt too much, it was just too hard...

Slowly he looked up at the clock next to his bed, registering the time as 7:05; he knew he needed to be downstairs at the meeting, but he just felt so awful. Finally though, he realized he had to get downstairs, and after lying there a few more precious minutes, he resolved to get up.

He let out a low groan as he tried to pull himself up on his arms, barely managing to lift his head before the achiness set in. Forcing his stiff limbs, he slowly forced himself up onto his wobbly feet, swaying back and forth until the nausea set in.

He knew he had to get to the bathroom, but those ten steps felt like ten miles, as he staggered toward the door, the wooziness making him feel light headed.

He gripped his stomach as he stumbled through the door of the bathroom, barely making it before he chunked his guts into the toilet, and then stood there bent over gagging as he hacked up bile until he was coughing.

Then he fell back onto the floor gasping, torn between wanting to curl up in a ball and fall asleep and knowing he needed to pull himself together and get downstairs.

The cold tile floor felt good against his cheek, but he just needed to get to the sink, he decided, reaching up to grip the counter, slowly heaving himself up until he almost collapsed onto the surface, just steadying himself with his arms.

With a shaking paw he turned on the faucet and put his paws under it, splashing his face with the water to clear his head before bending down and puting his head under the running water, at first just rinsing his mouth out before taking a few gulps.

Pulling his face out of the water, he swayed from side to side as he wiped his face with his paws, sputtering a few times to get the water he had accidentally inhaled to come out his nose and mouth.

But then he felt a different sensation, a slight tickling around his nose, quickly turning into a feeling of irritation._ "Oh no,"_ he thought,_ "I can't be getting a magical cold!"_

He couldn't help but panick, as he wheezed and took in short, quick breaths, knowing what was coming next...

* * *

"So we're all agreed, Misto is going to evacuate us," said Webber solemnly, hating the fact that what was supposed to be a fun vacation was ending so soon. He had so wanted to be able to stay for the whole three weeks, to see the Jellicles bonding with the humans. To kick back for a little while...maybe even find some inspiration to write some new music.

It pained him now to have to leave, and the quietness in the room echoed his feelings. None of them wanted it to end, even if they were stuck inside. The Jellicles had been making friends with their humans and enjoying the luxuries their world had to offer, while the humans were just in total awe of the Jellicles, and now they all worried they might not see each other again if they had to leave in a hurry.

The silence felt just as ominous as it was comforting, for although no one spoke because they didn't want to discuss the matter at hand, that was the very reason it was comforting, it prolonged the time spent there.

When Webber finally spoke again, it was to ask if Misto could come forward. There was a general looking back and forth and asking about him, some even sitting back in their chairs to see if they could spot him if they did so. But soon it became apparent that Misto wasn't at the table, as the questions about his whereabouts and presence turned into murmuring about his abscence.

"Okayyyy, where's the magician?" said Bryn in a voice so snarky it was nearly satirical, sending everyone into a fit of laughter, slowly dying down after a few minutes as they all realized they needed to find the little magician.

* * *

"Misto, you need to come out, you can't stay locked up in there forever," entoned Jenny, gently knocking once again before worriedly glancing at Webber.

"I'm not coming out," Misto half moaned, angrilly slamming his fist against the door.

This had been going on at least a half hour; when they dispersed to find him, it only took them a minute to locate the tux, Tugger going directly for the heart of the matter and heading straight up to his room and knocking on the door. But that's where their progress had ended, as Misto had bolted the door from the inside and wouldn't let anyone in.

"Dearie, if something's wrong, you need to let us in their to help you," said the gumbie cat sweetly, holding her fist back as if hesitating to knock again.

"No, no one's coming in here, it's too dangerous," he said, almost begging in a kitteny plea. "I don't want to hurt anyone!"

"Why would you hurt someone?" asked Webber, pressing his face against the door to listen, before suddenly pulling it back when he heard a loud sneeze from the other side.

"Achooo!... Oh shit!" yelled the tux, scrabbling at the door with his paw.

"Misto?" asked Webber, as he heard the tux murmuring swear words under his breath and jiggling the doorknob, but then looked in surprise as the door slowly opened.

Everyone stepped back as Misto crawled out the door on his knees, wobbly and sickly as he almost collapsed in front of them. Inside the room was an assortment of things that had appeard out of nowhere, including a couple of frogs, an acordian, a few assorted knick-knacks, and an old record player, playing, of all things, Meatloaf.

Suddenly, he started to breathe in fast, quick breaths as he felt another sneeze coming on. "Ahh, ahhh, achooo!" and right before their eyes stood an ugly stuffed possum, stitched up together with a raccoons head on the back of it's own, standing on it's hind legs and grasping out with it's paws.

There were several shrieks just from the shock of it, but of course it was just a dead stuffed animal, so after the fright had worn off, there was a strange mixed feeling of disgust and curiousity at the sight, before attentions' turned back to Misto.

"I have a magical cold... meaning I have no control over my magic. Whenever I sneeze, a spell happens. Just be glad I didn't accidentally turn one of you into a fruit fly," said the tux, as he tried to stand up in the door frame.

"Well, he's in no condition to evacuate us, then," said Munkus coming forward, putting his paw on his little brother's shoulder. He really was a protector at heart, and the look of thankfulness Misto gave him was so genuine, if it had been noticed by the others, it would have gotten a few "awess."

"Thanks, Munks," whispered Misto, rubbing his face in the taller tom's chest fur.

"No Problem," said Munkus, before turning to Webber, although not letting go of Misto. "We can't evacuate with him in this condition, he might kill us, and I don't want to put that on his shoulders. Please, Sir webber, just let us wait out the storm and for human rescue, we have enough food and supplies. Someone will look after Misto so that he's not putting all of is in danger, and we can manage."

The tabby was so respectful, and Webber was a very compassionate person by nature, even if he was a bit of a kook. He nodded thoughtfully yet sincerely at the tabby, knowing he couldn't put Misto up to this.

Slowly, he turned back to the others who were all waiting at a distance, all having backed up at the sight of the hideous possum-raccoon thing.

Webber slipped right back into character as he addressed them, giving them a slight shrug before saying with a sigh, "well, looks like we're staying."

* * *

**Oh, and to eld mcm, don't worry, as you can clearly see it's not the end. Actually quite the opposite, the chaos is just beginning...**


	17. Scaring people

"Ummm... Electra? Why is Spotstical wearing a cone on her head?" asked Leah, turning her head slightly to the side as she watched the kitten trying to chase the cone around her own neck, which was a very awkward site indeed.

It was true, around the tiny queen's neck was a big white coon. She looked like a satyllite dish.

"Oh that? She wouldn't stop trying to claw at her face where her fur got burned off, and then she rebelled by biting me earlier, so now she has to wear the 'cone of shame,'" shrugged Electra, watching as her kitten tried to run at a wall, only to hit her cone and fall backwards, which was actually her goal, since it was kinda cool she could do that without getting hurt.

"Ah heh," was all Leah could manage, because honestly, to most people in the Western world, this would be extreme parenting.

"Hey Mom," panted the kitten, as she ran up to her mother, almost knocking her over with the cone on her head. "Can I have that raccoon-possum upstairs?"

"That depends on what you want to do with it," said Electra, as she gave her daughter a stern look.

"I want to hold it up in the cone, and run around and scare people with it!" she squealed, jumping up and down as she said this.

"Okay, and don't forget to make Tugger wet himself by sneaking up on him..." she said, before drifting off, "oh, but don't scare Admetus, he's already crazy enough, we don't need another incident like the one in which he had that major breakdown over the chinese teenage bell hop and the shaving cream."

"Kay ma," yelled the kit as she dashed off immediately, heading straight for the stairs to find the taxidermy freak.

Leah just didn't know what to say, there was a strange case of that going around lately.

"Ohhh, I taught that kit well, someday she is going to accomplish great things," said Electra in a mysterious voice, making the freaked out Leah stare at her like her head was a pumpkin.

* * *

"Okay, what's you're favorite music group?" asked Drew, relaxing in the upstairs lounge that I am just now telling you about.

It was a large room with adjustable lighting and low tables with beanbag chairs and those oversized chairs that two people can only sit in if they lean on each other, I think they call those setees, right? Oh well, it was a nice little room, with a decent view of the outside and a small fireplace in the center on a hearth that rose out of the floor and led to a chimney in the ceiling above it.

Drew was currently sinking into a thickly overstuffed beanbag chair, in fact it kinda looked like the thing was trying to eat him, but he didn't care. He was too busy talking to Etcetera to notice whether the suspicious looking furniture was eating him.

"Hmmm," mused Cettie, laying across a setee. "Probably the Beatles, although I do enjoy most British Invasion bands, how about you?"

"Well, I'm rather partial to Jimi Hendrix, but British Invasion is cool too," shrugged the actor. They had been talking for a while, trying to distract themselves from the idea that they might not survive this, which was actually pretty easy for them, because they were a couple of those annoying 'cup is half full' people.

"So how about movies?" asked Cettie, to which Drew just laughed, unable to stop himself as he thought of the irony of people talking about movies all the time.

"Sorry" he said, "you see, that's usually one of the first questions people ask each other, or at least something related to that. Like "seen any good movies lately?" or "What's you're favorite movie?" and that's fine and all, I love a good movie, but it does get rediculous. I mean, that's what most first dates consist of."

"Really?" asked Cettie, raising an eyebrow curiously. "You mean most humans spend their first date staring at a screen and ignoring the other person for two hours?"

"Yeah, kinda crazy. I mean, I used to have a friend that I shared nothing in common with, except the ability to stare at a screen. You can imagine how long that lasted," laughed Drew, to which Cettie just chuckled.

"That is crazy, I mean, what's with television anyway? There are so many channels, and yet people say there's never anything good on," observed Cettie, to which Drew was almost in stitches with laughter.

"Ohhh, I'm so sorry," he said, trying to control his laughter. "It's just...you sounded like a stand up comedian right there..."

"Really?" asked Cettie, taken aback. "Well I hope at least I'm a good one."

"Oh, you are funny, it's just the irony I'm laughing at, talking about how nothing on television is good these days, and you're a cat!"

"Yes, yes I am. And proud of it," said the Jellicle, getting up and showing off her feline form in a sorta Egyption stance and then gracefully sitting back down. She enjoyed the fact that the humans found them so fascinating still, but especially the how Drew felt about her, or how she felt about him, and teasing him for this was so fun. "Because if I was in charge of television, there would be a mouse channel!"

"Really?"

"No," she said immediately, to which Drew almost looked comical because Cettie just kept the laughs coming. I mean, it wasn't even that funny, but he still couldn't help it, like someone had released a bunch of laughing gas in the room. "But I would make bad movie against the law," she continued, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Oh yeah, same here. Once I was in a movie that was so bad, I wanted to get up and yell, 'Hey everybody, do you really want to sit through this crap? I know we've paid and all, but that's just an exucse to give another hour of you're life to this. Let's all just go hang out in the hallway and get to know each other. Make a new friend, exchange phone numbers, kiss a girl..."

"Wait, you actually did that?" asked the Jellicle curiously.

"No, I just thought it, planned it out, really. In fact, planning it was more interesting then the movie," he shrugged.

"Well, maybe kissing a girl instead of seeing a lousy movie would..." but she never finished this sentence, as she walked over to Drew's beanbag chair and sat on top of him, pulling him into a kiss.

This certainly caught the actor off guard, but then he just sorta fell into it, savoring the warm feeling of her lips on his, her sweet lip gloss, and the way her velvety fur felt on his face.

"Hmmmm," he moaned slightly for air, as he finally broke off the long, passionate kiss. Cettie had a deep pur in her throat as she looked down at the actor, feeling his strong arms and toned chest. He couldn't tear his eyes off of her, either. With her beautiful coat of creamy yellow and black and white, and her tail that she always curled daintily around her leg.

"Drew..." she whispered in his ear, when-

The momen ended quite suddenly, when Jemima walked right into the room, her face going into a clenched, shocked expression and her breathing becoming none existent until she rememebered she had to do that to survive.

The two looked at her with a mixture of guilt and embarrassment, but also worry, because it was an understanding between them that this wasn't allowed by the Jellicles.

None spoke for nearly a minute, they all just stared at each other. You could have cut the tension with a butter knife.

Finally, Jemima seemed to shake off the shock, and said right to Cettie, "this is exactly what it looks like, isn't it?"

"Yep," said Cetts, removing her paws from Drews shoulders, putting one of them behind her head awkwardly.

To this the calico just smiled, although she did want to draw this out, because the look on Drew's face was killer, but she didn't want to spoil the timing of a good joke. "Good, I taught my sister well."

And then she just left, just walked right out the door and closed it, as if she had seen nothing.

Cettie sighed in relief, walking back to her seat and seating down again, spreading out in a kittie way, ignoring the look Drew was giving her, until she just couldn't stand it any longer. "What? Why do you think people say she's impish?"

* * *

Jenny gently wiped the sweat off the poor tuxes face with a damp washcloth, noticing how he tried to smile in thanks.

"Just take it easy, Quaxo," she murmured, tucking him in tighter under the thick quilt she had brought him.

"I told you not to call me that. It's Misto," he croaked, trying to sit up, but to no avail as Jenny pushed him back down under the blanket.

"I know, ever since you discovered your powers you think you're entitled to a fourth name. Well being the performer that you are"-"I'm not a performer, I'm a magician," he corrected with an almost airy voice, as if speaking so much was tiring him out.

"You're right, you are a magician. Because only a magician could"-"Achooo!"

There was a big puff of smoke, and when it cleared, there was a vase full of roses on the table next to the bed. Jenny looked at the tom questioningly for a moment, and then simply smiled. "Get some sleep, magician. You'll feel better in a week for so, just let this cold run it's course and you'll be fine.

"Thanks Jenny," he said, as the Gumbie cat bent down and nuzzled his head gently, before getting up and leaving him alone to rest.

* * *

"I hate you, you know that, right?" muttered Demeter, not even turning to Munkus as she stared out the window, at the snow storm that was_ still _going on.

"What did I do," asked Munk, to which Demi just gestured toward the window, before placing her paw back on her belly.

"We're going to be okay, the storm will be over in the next few days, and then we just wait for rescue," said Munk, trying to act calm about it. In reality though, he was dealing with the prospect of a nervous breakdown.

But really, Demeter was pissed, and honestly I kinda don't blame her. I mean, blaming her mate was a little extreme if not missguided, but it is understandable that she would feel resentfull that they might not make it out alive, and she was talked into going by the memebers of her tribe and Andrew.

"Well, if we don't get out of here soon, I swear something weird is going to happen, like... that!" she half yelled, half laughed, as Spostical came running into the room, carrying the mutant raccoon-possum inside the giant cone on her head.

"Spotsy, what are you doing?" asked Munk, raising an eyebrow before giving Demi a questioning look.

"I'm scaring people!" squealed the queen, almost dancing with delight.

"And, you're mommy is okay with this?" asked Demeter, bending over to the little queen slightly, although not more than her current condition allowed.

"Yup, she even told me to make Tugger wet himself," and at this she got up on the tips of her toes and Munk and Demi got close as the little queen whispered. "He didn't, but Pounce did, and then Tumble laughed at him. So I threw this at him and he fell off the top bunk."

"Well, I think you need to go back to you're mom, and give this back to her. So she can...um, keep it safe," supplied Munk, taking the raccoon-possum and helping Spotsy get a grip of it under her arm.

As the little queen left the room, Munk turned back to Demeter, trying to figure out what to say now. "You know, it's weird how we've always wanted one of those..." he managed, with a slight laugh.

"Hah, yes, and they say it's impossible to understand what parenting is like until it's too late not to become one," sighed Demi, her mood made a lot better by the silly little queen and her mischief, which was really laughable and even cheesy when it comes right down to it.

**(plus, am I the only one who imagines her with a squeaky voice?)**

To this Munk just nodded. "Yeah, I can believe that."


	18. A couple of Conversations

Alonzo and Cassie lay curled up in a windowsill, both watching the storm whirling outside. They had been there for about an hour, talking some, but mostly just enjoying each others' company.

Alonzo looked thoughtfully at the storm outside, wondering how long the author was going to keep this up.

"You know, I hear that humans who lie as kittens grow up to be weather forecasters," murmured Alonzo, making Cassie laugh.

"Yeah..." she begun airily, before shaking her head and saying, "what time is it?"

"Hmmm, around ten, why d'ya ask?" asked Alonzo when he sudden had a realization. "Oh I guess you don't want Tugger to be getting jealous..."

"What?" asked the queen confusedly, "no I'm not seeing Tugger, whatever made you think that?"

"Well, you have been spending a lot of time with him lately," said the tom awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head as he said this.

"Oh that, no, he and I were just discussing where and how he's to propose to Bomba!" laughed the queen, finding the whole thing funny.

"Wha... So Tugger's finally tying the knot?" asked Alonzo, shocked.

"Yup, waiting for the perfect moment to ask," said Cassie with a smile, "he even wanted me to help plan the event, get together friends and family, provide food and arrange the dance numbers..."

"That's wonderful, I"m glad he's finally settling down," said Alonzo, but there was a touch of bitterness in the tom's voice as he said this.

Cassie caught it, though, and gave the tom a serious look. "I know someone else who hasn't settled down yet," she said, obviously hinting as she looked into Alonzo's eyes.

But Alonzo tried to evade her gaze, shaking his head no. "You know why I can't, and besides, in the end I'm just gonna die whether I find happiness or not," he said, sounding pathetically like he were trying to accept defeat.

"First of all, it could be years before you even get sick, you're healthy and you've got time. Second, you know that now that we have contact with the humans, we can get protection, and third, you're not the tom you used to be," said Cassandra, with serious earnestness. "You used to be cocky and full of yourself, and... that night, that the humans recreate on stage, that night changed you. When we all chose to show mercy to Grizabella, it changed you, you hated to see it was her chosen because old Gus wouldn't get a chance, but you realized it was the right thing. You became a better tom," here she looked away, unable to keep this up.

Alonzo reached out and touched her face, but she still wouldn't look at him, "although that still didn't stop you from catting around some, and last year when you got your diagnosis, you became nothing but a melodramatic"-"I'm gonna die, what's melodramatic about that?" demanded the tom angrily, unable to believe Cassandra had actually gone there.

"The fact that you refuse to enjoy whatever life you have left," said Cassandra icily, and then getting up and leaving the tom without another word.

* * *

Tugger dug around under his mattress, his tail swishing back and forth as he searched.

John stood behind him with one raised eyebrow, wondering what the Jellicle was up to. "Um, Tugger, what are you doing?"

"Looking for the engagement collar I made for Bomba," said the Jellicle, right as his paw ran across the box. "Oh here it is!"

And with that the maine coon turned around and held up a velvet case, opening the lid and showing off the contents with an air of pride. The collar was a made of fine leather scratched out from some rich woman's purse, intricately embroidered with thick goldish thread, and a shining white pearl attached to the front, courtesy of Rumpleteazer.

"So, what'do you think?" asked Tugger almost cockily, since showing of the collar he had made was becoming a point of great pride to the tom.

"May I?" asked the human, as the Jellicle nodded consent and held out the box. John picked it up and examined it, smiling eviling as he looked it over. "This is nice, did you make it?"

"Yeah, it's kinda a tradition, Jellicles making their own engagement collars," said Tugger, shuffling his feet. "I mean, I know you humans don't really approve of the stealing, but..."

"Oh no, it's a nice collar. Besides, I can't really talk, since one of my best friends once stole a fur coat and I didn't say anything," said John in a laid back sorta way.

At this, however, the Jellicle's face just went blank, before saying, "okay, that is just wrong."

"Yeah I know," begun the actor, before Tugger inturrupted him and continued. "Oh no, not the stealing, the fur coat. Uh...yeah, us Jellicles are kinda on the on the left wing side of the animal rights argument. I mean, the Jellicles are pretty diverse in what we think of human politics and a lot of he questions they raise, you'll find lots of different view points among us, really. But, yeah, animals have rights. I mean, we're cats, so we can't be vegetarian, but the fur industry is just too cruel to support. Ever seen a fur farm? In China, they go around collecting cats from the streets, even if they're wearing collars, and they skin them alive!"

John couldn't say anything to this, since he didn't want to even know this information, but also because he didn't expect to be hearing this kinda stuff from the Rum Tum Tugger.

"And you know what's really wrong? In China, they dye the fur and label it as feaux, so people in the U.S and Britain will be more likely to buy it!"

"...Ugh, just..." was all the actor could say when he finally could speak, and by that time Tugger had sat down to try and cool off. "So... did you know I donate money to animal rescue?"

* * *

_the creapest conversation ever!_

"So, Admetus, do you have any interests besides freaking everyone out?" asked Tony Timberlake, sitting on his bottom bunk talking to Admetus.

"Well, back in my home country, we were into extreme ironing, but now I prefer taking pictures of people and making clay scultures from them and making the scultures do things to each other," he said, hissing his esses and rulling his rrrr more than usual, as if he were doing it now just for the sake of freaking out his roommates.

Timberlake stared at the Jellicle fora minute. Like, a full minute, I know, I timed it. And when he finally did speak, he simply said, "I'm sorry I asked."

"Eh, it's fine. I made a clay sculture of you yesterday. He went out slorping with my Victoria sculture, and then I threw them both in the fire where they melted," said Addie with a big grin.

"Do I even what to know what slorping is?" asked Tony, with a shudder of fear and awkwardness coursing through him.

"Oh, it's a passtime back in my home country. First you cover yourself with Elmer's Glue, and then you do summersaults together in a hampster ball while singing Freddie Murcery songs."

"Okay Admetus, know one does that. Not even you on acid"-"but I am on catnip!"

"You're on catnip?" asked the human, unsure if this was allowed.

"Yup, we all use it, just to chill. Munk has the biggest stash because he's stressed out all the time," said the Jellicle, grinning broadly at the surprised look on Tony's face. "And the only side affect is that it makes you incredibly horney."

"Okay I'm out," said Tony quickly, rushing to the door before Admetus tried something weird. But when he opened the door, he found Asparagus on the other side about to come in.

"Hey Aspy," said the human quickly before hightaling it out of the room.

"He Tony," he said, before turning back toward the room and looking at the chilled out expression on Admetus' face. "Addie, have you been mixing nip with you're meds again?"


	19. The Music of the Night

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Hey everyone, I'm sorry it's been so long, I've been kinda busy and kinda dreading working on this chapter because I knew I'd have a lot of work to do with the end of it. So please enjoy the fruits of my labor!**

**Oh, and to those following, Sex, Drugs, and Munkustrap, I'm currently working on the next chapter.**

**Okay, so I've covered all that. What else can I say but please review? Um... how about enjoy!**

**Oh, and I took out that thing about fourth wall jokes because I realized it sorta came across as making fun of the readers, which was not my intention. Sorry about that.**

* * *

Tantomile crept through the hallway of the lodge, quietly slinking through the shadows in that way only a cat knows how to do. The dark hallways seemed to stretch forever, but that didn't bother the psychic, she could see in the dark, after all.

In her paws she gripped a cloth napkin, the ends tied up so as to form a kind of sack, the contents of which she was determined to get to a certain cat.

It was almost midnight, her family were all in bed, but this was important. She had to deliver this package. To her it was urgent, because it had to do with the survival of one of their party.

But beyond what she felt was her obligation, she really didn't mind doing this. In fact she rather enjoyed any chance to walk around and be by herself. The lodge was nice and quiet. The dark night was so pleasant, the warm air seeming perfect, especially as she would sneak by a cold window. Yes, she was glad for the excuse to go on a late night walk.

Quietly she made her way down the hall, staying close to the wall so as not to be seen. When she got to the end she found her goal, one of the lodges many closets. She opened it silently, sneaking in the barely open doorway and quickly shutting it behind her before anyone could see.

In the closet she squatted down and sat on her haunches, feeling around on the floor until she found a loose match and a candle on a candle stick. Quickly she struck the match and lit the candle, shaking the match to put it out as the light revealed what, or whom I should say, she had come to find.

Exotica sat curled up against the wall, looking down in defeat. She would not meet Tantomile's gaze, wouldn't even look up at her, feeling as though she ought to instead hide out of sight.

"I brought you your share from dinner," said Tanto, noting how thin Exotica looked, deciding to bring her more next time she found her, even if it meant less for herself.

"Hmmmm," sighed Exotica, staring blankly at the door as Tanto opened the cloth napkin to reveal a nice peace of seared salmon with asparagus and a roll. She didn't want to look at it, didn't want to eat.

"Exy, I explained your situation to Webber. He said I can bring you your meals," said Tanto sweetly, pushing the food toward Exotica.

"What situation?" asked the dark queen stiffly, narrowing her eyes at Tantomile.

"You're crippling a-social tendencies, maddening shyness, and extreme self-loathing. All of which are completely unwarranted. If you would just allow us to reach out to you instead of recoiling every time someome shows you love... I know you don't believe me, but you might be happy," said the psychic, trying to reach out to Exy.

"You waste your time with me," said Exotica, not touching the food. "I'm unreachable, I always just wind up hurting myself or others again."

"But you've never hurt anyone," said Tanto, scooting forward toward her friend. "Every time anyone in your family get mad, you assume it's your fault. Every time you see something go wrong, you blame yourself. You've convinced yourself of all these horrible things, and you won't allow yourself to live because you can't see the world any other way."

"You know what my dad used to tell me?" asked the queen, looking up desperately at Tanto. "He used to tell me, "don't try, do. And if you can't do, don't try." He said unless I was perfect, I'd be unlovable,"

"You're dad was a bastard," said Tanto flatly, to which Exy started to tear up as she laughed, until tears poured down her face freely and she was almost in stitches. This went on for a minute, until Exy finally recovered herself, seeming to become the creature of misery again. "That night, when you accepted back the unlovable, why did you do it?" asked Exy, looking at Tanto seriously

"Because she needed mercy. As in forgiving her despite the fact that she didn't deserve it. But do you know what the difference is between you and Grizabella?" asked Tanto, looking seriously at her friend.

Exy simply shook her head no, embarrassed she was being made to geuss, since she thought of herself as always wrong.

"The difference, is that you have done nothing to deserve the isolation and misery you bury yourself in," said Tanto, lightly touching her friend's shoulder before getting up and leaving, shutting the door behind her.

Exotica sat quietly thinking this over for a few minutes, and then finally went for the food Tanto had left, her whole self overwhelmed by just the touching gesture of her friend making sure she didn't starve in her attempt to isolate herself.

* * *

"Okay, so all of you support the animal rights movement?" asked John, trying to get all of this straight. This coversation had been going on for about two hours, John acting uncharacteristically thick headed since the idea of all the world's Jellicle Cats sharing the same idea seemed highly implausible

"for the hundreth time, yes," said Tugger, about ready to claw his mane out, he was so frustrated.

"No matter what other things the individual Jellicle thinks?" asked the actor, raising an eyebrow as if to see if this placed any challenged to what they had just been discussing.

"Yes, we all believe in animal rights. Because we're cats, and a lot of us have human owners, so of course we want humans to treat us right. Even Admetus, who's a Communist, believes in animal rights!" Tugger said forcefully, tired of trying explain this very simple concept to John.

"Okay, okay, I get it...wait, Admetus is a Communist?" asked John, unsure of whether he should laugh at this or be horrified.

"yep, and a liscensed welder," said Tugger, tucking the collar back in it's case and putting it back under his mattress.

At this the human's jaw nearly dropped, he couldn't imagine Addie with a welding gun.

Tugger noticed the human's expression and grinned, now beginning to enjoy this conversation. "Yeah, it's frightening, especially when he welds off his meds," said Tugger, with a sigh as he stretched.

The human was quiet for a minute, staring at Tugger strangely before getting up and saying, "you wanna drink?"

"We do a lot of that, don't we?" was the Jellicle's response, turning his head to the side questioningly.

"Well, the chances of us getting out of here are slim, so why not?" asked John, to which the Jellicle just nodded as the actor handed him a beer.

After taking a sip, Tugger wiped his mouth and said, "if that's the case, I'm gonna have to propose to Bomba quick."

"Exactly, just like of we see anything alcoholic, we better drink it quick," said John with a wink.

"Hmmm, I can drink to that," said Tugger, raising his bottle. Then he put it down after another sip and instead picked up a dance magazine and begun flipping through it. "I don't know about you, but I am very bored. Let's look through magazines and try to figure out which models are gay."

"That's just insane, how about we watch cult-classic movies and stuff ourselves on that fudge my mother sent with me?"

"Sounds good to me," said the Jellicle, looking through the shelf of terrible flicks until he came upon the worst movie ever made,_ 'The Room.'_

* * *

Jemima sat on Etcetera's bed, licking herself. Since Misto had been diagnosed with a magical cold, she and the kittens had moved in with her sister. It was pretty nice, being able to have a little girl time... at least after the little monsters are asleep.

Cettie gently pushed the bathroom door open and stepped out, she had just taken a 'human shower,' as the Jellicles called them. After running the towel over her went fur, the queen layed it down on the floor and sat down, beginning to lick herself to finish drying.

Jemima watched her sister with a strange look on her face. She was definitely happy she had finally found someone, but seeing her sister trying out something so human and then doing a total three sixty and acting so cat just was not only too weird, but it brought up a lot of questions she wanted to ask. Her sister had some 'splain'in to do.

"So, you and that Australian guy," she begun, to which Cettie looked up at her confusedly.

"What Australian? Drew is from New Zealand, I thought you knew that," she said with a laugh.

"Oh, sorry... but seriously, you and the human. Ummm, don't we have a word for that? Humanality?" asked Jemmi, in her most teasing voice.

"What? You just made that up! There's no word for it, except _forbidden,"_ she whispered this last part, looking around as if the walls had ears.

"Oh yeah, that's the word I was thinking of," giggled Jemmi, to which Cettie tried to swat her upside the head.

"Hey, if the humans find out about this, they'll think it's disgusting. So don't you go around talking about this, sis," said Cettie, as she begun licking her paws.

"You know, those human habits you've picked up, like taking showers instead of tongue baths and searching for things with flashlights and constantly worrying about the time..-"hey, we've all picked up a few habits"-"Yeah, anyway," said Jemima, annoyed about being inturrupted right when she was getting to her punch line.

"...Well I was thinking..." she continued, as she inched her way toward the bathroom, Cettie eyeing her suspiciously the whole way. "...that if you're going to do things like a human... you might as well go all the way!" and with that she picked up the blow dryer and turned it on, cringing as the harsh sound hit her sensitive ears.

"EEeek!" squealed Cettie, as she jumped up to get away from the horrible sound, only to have Jemima chase her.

"It's gonna get you!" laughed Jemi as she made chase, snickering every time Cettie jumped away and covered her ears miserably, unaware that she was getting close to the end of the extension cord.

"Hsssssssss" she hissed, as Jemima cornered her, trying to bring the blow dryer right up to her sister, when it came unplugged.

"Jemi, what the freak"-"watch your language," said Jemima, tossing the hair dryer aside and offering her paw to ther sister, who immediately clasped it and stood back up.

"You're horrible," she muttered looking away before sighing saddly. For a minute there was quiet between them, until Cettie sighed and said, "it is illegal for me and Drew to be together, isn't it?"

"You know how Munk would react, go all altru-crazy and act like a drunken politician. But don't worry, sis. You know I love being a rebel, and if you love this human, I can't say no," said Jemi, putting her paw on her sisers shoulder.

"Thanks, sis. I knew you would stand by me, but...what's a politician?" asked Cettie, unsure about particular terminology among different groups of humans.

"Oh, you know, it's those people who get paid to wear suites all day and other humans choose them for the position of wearing suites all day. There's also lots of name calling and holding up signs and taring and feathering," said Jemi, half wishing she didn't know all this.

"Really? Well I'm in for an interesting conversation with Drew."

* * *

Jo sat on the stairs looking out the window at the wind and snow still blustering outside, wondering if it would ever stop. She didn't want to die here, didn't want to be found in a lodge filled with snow, having frozen to death. She was so angry with Webber she could just spit nails.

But worse than that, she felt like the loneliest person in the world.

So many strange feelings troubled the poor woman, feelings she couldn't explain. Some things she didn't want explained, she just didn't want them to exist. She didin't want any of this to be happening, didn't want to be here. Why did she have to be stuck in this horrible place where she could do nothing but watch her partner in crime fall for a member of another species? And why was she not okay with this?

"I never had a thing for Drew," she said under her breath. She wanted to mean it, she was so angry with herself, so she stood up and said it to the darkness. "I never had a thing for Drew!"

"I don't think I buy that," said a voice behind her, startling her.

Jo immediately stood up and turned around, every muscle in her body tense as she stared at the strange figure standing abover her on the stairs. She couldn't draw a breath, as the cloaked phantom-like figure seemed to loom over her, his hood covering his face.

"No, I don't buy that, but there are more important thoughts to dwell on," he said, in a very charming, devonaire voice.

Jo should have been offended by this, but somehow she wasn't. In fact, she was more intrigued than anything. This person, whoever her happened to be, didn't seem threatening, but instead filled her with a kind of fascination.

Slowly, the cloaked figure walked gracefully down the stairs and walked into the center of the room. Now that he was out of this shadows, Jo could tell his cloak was a mix of black and scarlet lining, and he carried himself with the airs of aristocracy.

"There are more important things to dwell on, like love and beauty... this beautiful night, for instance. And of course, music," he said this last word with a poetic pronunciation that made the word seem filled with wonder, and it did just that to Jo.

Then he gestured around the room, Jo following where he pointed with her eyes when something strange begun to happen. The room begun to fill with fog, and candles begun to alight all around them, and a small fire came to life in the fireplace.

"Music, is what you need to focus on, my dear. Although the kind of music is up to you," he said, holding out his gloved hands to Jo. Then he stepped closer to her, getting close enough to touch her face, but not quite, and then he begun to sing:

"Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation Darkness stirs and wakes imagination  
Silently the senses abandon their defenses  
Helpless to resist the notes i write  
For I compose the music of the night"  
(music)

Jo watched, completely entranced as he circled her and touched her hair, and then begun to walk back into the center of the room. As he sang the candles begun to move about him as if compelled by some unseen force, but somehow she new it was the music. Her pulled out a few sheets of music and let them gently fall the toe ground, the candles illuminating the prettily drawn musical score.

"Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendour  
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender  
Hearing is believing  
Music is deceiving  
Hard as lightning, soft as candle light  
Dare you trust the music of the night.."

As he sang this, he approached her again and played a bit with her hair, and yet she was completely calm, even though she new at least part of her should be scared. But he seemed so... she couldn't explain it. She would trust him, even thought at this point anything could happen and she wouldn't try to resist, she was so under his spell.

"Close your eyes for your eyes will only tell the truth  
And the truth isn't what you want to see  
In the dark it is easy to pretend..  
That the truth is what it ought to be..."

Here he approached a piano that Jo never realized was there before, and he ran his hands down more sheets of music, as if curessing the notes.  
Then he turned back to her, raising his arms as if being swept away by the music.

"Softly, deftly, music shall caress you  
Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you  
Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind  
In this darkness which you know you cannot fight  
The darkness of the music of the night"

He turned around and walked to the other side of the room, Jo following him slowly, wanting to be closer to him, as a gate was lowered from the ceiling and he grabbed it with both hands. It was strange, and frightening. Was he trapping her? Because Jo felt perfectly okay with it.

"Close your eyes start a journey through a strange, new world  
Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before  
Close your eyes and let music set you free  
Only then can you belong to me"

He let go of the gate and started walking toward her again, Jo backing up a little nervously now. As he sang the word, free, he raised his arms and allowed this note to carry him away a little, Jo turning around as if she couldn't take the beauty of it. Then he walked up to her and put his arms around her again, Jo leaning into him as she felt his arms embrace her.

"Floating, falling, sweet intoxication  
Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation  
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in  
To the power of the music that I write  
The power of the music of the night"

He ran a hand over her face, and as he let go of her, Jo wouldn't let go of his hand as he led back into the center of the room. Then, as he sang these last words, he let go of her hand and grabbed the curtain on one of the windows, pulling it down: the snow had stopped! Jo stared in wonder and fear, so entranced and terrified and overjoyed, she couldn't do anything but stare at the most beautiful sight that could have met her eyes at that moment. And yet this strange figure was still here to entice her into more wonder, so she looked back at him to see what he would do next.

"You alone can make my song take flight  
Help me make the music of the night"

Her put both his arms around her, and in the light of the candles and the little bit little bit of moonlight that was coming in from the very top of the window, he pulled her into a kiss. Her lips met his and she swore his were as soft as velvet. It was so strange, kissing someone who's face she had never seen before. She didn't know what to think, except she was going to lose herself in this for at least this moment.

Pulling away, he let go of her hands, and took a bow. And then, with a wave of his cloak, everything, the candles, the fog, the fire in the fireplace and the gates, all were gone. Jo stood alone in the dark room, holding onto the enchantment, the hope, and the music of the night.

_No one knew it, but at that moment, a certain magical tom gave a very gentle sneeze in his sleep, causing an explosion of activity to take place down in the basement._

* * *

**I love leaving cliffhangers, I don't know why, but to me it's a great way to end a chapter. Please review!**


	20. Buried in snow

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**Hey people, sorry it's been so long. I've been busy with college stuff as well as trying to write my own play. I'm also taking theatre class, but it's not going to well. The teacher for the course is just preparing us for tests and doesn't care about anything else, it seems. We're supposed to be working on a class skit, and she still hasn't asked her boss about what appropriate content is for our class. So until she asks, we can't even discuss ideas. Once, when we finished all the material forty-five minutes early, I asked if we could practice improv. She pretty much brushed off the idea and then practically shooed us out of class. I want my money back.**

**By the way, that chapter of Sex, Drugs, and Munkustrap is going to be a while, seeing as how I accidentally erased half of it while trying to write it. You'd think I'd be more tech-savvy, but no. So, my apologies to all those waiting for it. **

**Either way, I hope you all enjoy this sorta over-the-top chapter. It's kinda short and ends with a cliff-hanger, but what do I write that's not in a cliff-hanger? So, please kindly leave your reviews and tell me what you think, I really enjoy yalls' feedback.**

* * *

The next day, a certain playwrite stood in front of the window, relief flooding through him.

"Everyone, get down here. It's stopped snowing," he said calmly, not taking his eyes off the window. He wasn't going to play up his character here, he simply needed to relish this.

Slowly, the emsemble got together. The Jellicles. The humans.

There was silence among the mob, as they stared intently at the window like it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen in their lives.

"This, my friends, is a beautiful sight. Because it means that Mountain Patrol can finally send rescue," said Webber, unable to suppress his happiness.

There were a few minutes of silence, but it was hard for the group to contain their excitement, and soon they were all chatting merrily about the prospect of being rescued. Of course, this couldn't last forever, as nobody wanted to mention the elephant in the room. Finally, Pouncival said it.

"Is the lodge buried under the snow?"

There was an awkward silence, as all eyes turned toward the kitten. For a moment, nobody spoke, until finally Webber said, "Pounce, now don't start up stuff like that. We're all terrified beyond all reason and over dramatic over the prospect of our own mortalities enough without you making it worse. Now I very much respect the Jellicles, as they are magnificent creatures that deserve respect just as much as humans. However, I swear if you don't stop acting like such a kitten I am gonna spray you in the face with a water bottle!"

"That's not quite necessary," said Munkustrap with a smile, as he came forward with Demeter by his side.

"Yes," said Demi sweetly, looking almost as enjoyably evil as her mate. "Just have him open the door and see if he gets buried in snow."

What Demi was suggesting was truly cliche, and yet very appealing. After all, this group had been stuck inside for days, they were desperate.

"Pounce, open the door," said Webber calmly, so calmly it was quite frightening in fact.

For a moment the kitten gaped at the playwrite, before saying, "you cannot be serious."

"Open the door pounce," said several of the Jellicles and humans, narrowing their eyes at the kitten who had brought up the one thing none of them wanted to know, even though it was technically vitally important, being scared out of your wits makes you irrational.

"Fine, but if I suffocate it's your fault!" he said, before turning and walking over toward the door.

As he got closer to the door, he looked over his shoulder to see the whole room staring at him, and he gulped at the prospect of what was ahead. Slowly, with a shaking paw he reached and grabbed the doorknob, sweat pouring off his face. He was about to turn it and open the door when-"WAIT! Let me, I've always wanted to be buried in snow!"

Admetus sprang forward and pushed the kitten out of the way, smiling derangedly at the group, who were now watching fascinatedly.

"What? Admetus, why do you want to be buried under a bunch of snow?" asked Munk, who knew how crazy Addie was as he had had to watch him on occasion to make sure he didn't kill himself.

"Because I happen to have a snow fettish and this is a dream come true!" called the crazed tom, and before anyone could stop him he opened the door, and the snow just came pouring in, covering him and Pounce.

Astonished gasps came from the crowd, some backing away while others ran forward to try and dig the toms out.

Webber stood by trying to hold in laughter as all the Jellicles started digging through the snow to get to the buried toms, the other humans helping out clumsily as they tried to use their bare hands to dig.

Suddenly from out of the chaos a white paw shot out of the snow and started grasping around until Asparagus Jr. and John Partridge grabbed hold of it and started to pull him out. As the kitten's head imerged from out of the snow, who gasped for air and started clawing frantically until he had thoroughly scratched up his rescuers and dug himself out the rest of the way.

Shivering and cold, the Pounce climbed down from the snow pile and approached Munk and Demi, who were now too stunned to speak. "Munk, Demi, you are horrible, you realize that, right?" he said, as his teeth chattered loudly and frost dripped from his ears.

The young couple were speechly, Demi in particular. They didn't actually think the snow would fall in like that, but would have formed a solid wall. There goal had been to scare him a little, not bury him alive.

"We're sorry," said Demi, holding her belly with both paws and on the verge of tears as she realized just how irrisponsible that had really been of them. She couldn't handle it, and quickly fled the room as fast as her feet could carry her, Munk apologizing before following her, feeling just as humiliated.

Jenny quickly came forward with a towel and led Pounce over to the fire to warm up, the kitten shivering and looking scared out of his mind from what had just happened as he followed her.

"Well..." said Webber, at a loss for words. "Ummmmmm, keep digging!"

The whole group were about to continue when all of a sudden, Admetus head popped right out of the snow. He had a manical expression on his face as he looked around and said, "no need to worry, just leave me in here and I'll be fine. It is glorious, I can't feel anything anymore!" And with that he ducked back down under the snow again, happy to be loose in a giant pile of snow.

"Okay then, I suppose we'll just leave him to it for a little while. Just make sure it gets cleaned up before too much melts," ordered Webber, before adding, "and anyone who helps out gets double desert tonight, my little pretties!"

There was a general round of assent as the whole lot of them decided this sounded good, and they all decided to celebrate that they were soon going to be free, having no clue that first the rescuers had to dig themselves out. But they would find that out later; there were much more important things to worry about at that moment anyway, like the fact that thanks to Misto's magic, a small China Town had appeard in the basement, just waiting to be discovered by the Jellicles.


	21. Two discoveries

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS**

**Hey, sorry it's been so long. I've been working on some other stuff lately, and have been very distracted. Don't worry, I'll update as soon as I can. Until then, please review!**

* * *

While the maniac with fur enjoyed the numbness in his limbs and tail and everyone else downstairs downstairs gave him all their attention, a certain queen's heart broke.

Bombalurina decided she had had enough of the chaos downstairs, and so she headed up to the library on the top floor (yeah, it exists now) to browse around and explore.

_"As soon as that eccentric, nipped up oddball gets frostbite, it's not going to be funny anymore,"_ she thought to herselff, as she walked around the balcony of the second floor and toward the hallway that lead to the second staircase.

The red queen found that she really like this place. The architecture was nice, simple and rustic, and very cozy. The pictures on the walls were of nature scenes, and sometimes animals, and she found that despite the fact that they were trapped under a ton of snow, she was generally not too put out by all that had happened so far.

The past couple of days hadn't been too bad, actually. She found most of what was going on amusing. This was good, because it was a distraction, which is what the queen really wanted, anyway.

Of course, as this thought ran through her mind she let out a sigh, as she was reminded of what she needed a distraction from.

Even at her happiest, Tugger was always on her mind. She just couldn't stop thinking of him. Really, it had to do with the fact that he had always promised they would be together when they were younger, back when she thought he was trustworthy. That was back when she confided in him with everything, trusted him. Now, she was tired of empty promises from him and from being his throwback.

Bomba stopped for a moment when she came upon a mirror, looking at herself._ "I won't look this good forever. I'm just waisting my life. In a few years I'm probably going to look like a totally different cat. Than again, we all are. And I'm losing years of my life to a loser who throws me away like garbage."_

She stood there a moment longer, looking so closely into her own eyes it was almost creepy even to her. _"There's a whole world out there, and the older I get, the more I restrict myself from seeing it, and I obsess over this stupid relationship. I've avoided family because I've been too ashamed to talk to them about it, I've hurt others I love, and I've given up a lot of my old interests for really no reason."_

And she knew the reason behind this was all to do with this depression she was getting into over Tugger.

As she was about to walk away from the mirror, she noticed something in it. Bomba narrowed her eyes as she watched the tiny reflection of a brown, long and lanky cat around the corner of the hall.

Bomba had been jealously watching Cassandra going out with Tugger for the past week, and had been driving herself crazy over it.

Quietly, Bomba crept around the corner and down the hall, hoping no one would see her as she walked past the top of the grand staircase. As she was passing it, she looked and saw everyone downstairs going crazy about the snow, trying to get rid of it using pales while Admetus went crazy trying to stop them. She shook her head at the craziness of it all, figuring they were all nuts and should just be left to themselves.

Finally past the grand staircase, the red queen took a deep breath and looked over her shoulders to make sure nobody saw what she was about to do. Silently, she tiptoed up to the door she had seen Cassandra enter through, trying to peek underneath it. All she saw were the legs of furniture and two pairs of feet, although the sight made her heart nearly stop. One pair belonged to Cassi, the other to Tugger.

Bomba felt a chill run through her, as the thought that it should be her and not Cassi Tugger is with. Full of indignant anger, Bomba held her breath and pressed her ear to the door, nervously waiting for what she was afraid she was going to hear.

"So, what do you think?" asked Tugger, his voice slightly muffled by the door. Tugger was holding up the case to show Cassi the collar he had made for Bombalurina.

"Oh Tugger, I think it's a lovely collar. You did such a fine job!" exclaimed Cassi.

As the abbysinian said this, Bomba's eyes went about as wide as ping pong balls.

"Does Bomba know yet?" whispered Cassi.

At that moment Bomba grabbed her chest, as if her heart had just leapt forwar about a foot.

"No, I don't want her going crazy until we hear from some rescue. I mean, think about everyone's sanity. She'll be going nuts," said Tugger, half laughingly.

Her heart stopped throbbing against the walls of her chest. Instead, the red queen felt a sudden cold, emptiness beginning to make its way over her entire being.

Slowly, the red queen shrank away from the door, stood up, and begun walking backwards away from the door. She continued to walk backwards until she reached the edge of the hall, and then took of running. Tears streamed down her face as she ran, she couldn't think or see or breathe, she just needed to get away from those two cats.

She would have run away from this place if she could, but since she couldn't, she'd run as far as she could in this prison. Through the hall, up the stairs, through the next hall, until she got to a door and threw it open.

There was the library, bright and full of books from ceiling to floor, with such couches and large windows.

To her, it was just an empty room. Her feet carried her to the window; it was frozen over with this ice. Her whole body felt as cold as ice, her chest empty of a beating heart, her red fire gone.

She stood with her back to the room, not moving. She wanted to disappear in this room, wanted to vanish as she looked at this empty window. It would hurt less than feeling so alone.

Alone, where no one would hear, she pressed her hands agains the freezing glass, and she begun to sing.

"There was a time when men were kind  
When their voices were soft  
And their words inviting  
There was a time when love was blind  
And the world was a song  
And the song was exciting  
There was a time  
Then it all went wrong"

She knew singing alone was pathetic, but that's what she was here.

"I dreamed a dream in times gone by  
When hope was high  
And life worth living  
I dreamed that love would never die  
I dreamed that God would be forgiving  
Then I was young and unafraid  
And dreams were made and used and wasted  
There was no ransom to be paid  
No song unsung  
No wine untasted."

Her entire life had been centered around chasing one tom who used her and threw her away repeatedly. She never saw any consequences to playing games with him and allowing herself to be used by him when she was younger. Now, she was just lonely and tired of it. But Tugger had only thought of her as an object, and wouldn't stop the game any time soon.

"But the tigers come at night  
With their voices soft as thunder  
As they tear your hope apart  
And they turn your dream to shame."

_"Are the tigers all of them, all those other queen?"_ she asked herself._ "No, we're all a bunch of cruel, coniving creatures who seek to harm each other. I've done my share of hurting others, and it's come back to get me and drag me down."_

"He slept a summer by my side  
He filled my days with endless wonder  
He took my childhood in his stride  
But he was gone when autumn came."

_"And every time, I allow myself to believe he's going to stay with me."_

"And still I dream he'll come to me  
That we'll live the years together  
But there are dreams that cannot be  
And there are storms we cannot weather  
I had a dream my life would be  
So different from this hell I'm living  
So different now from what it seemed  
Now life has killed  
The dream I dreamed."

Slowly, the red queen curled up into a little ball, not looking up. The ache in her chest was twisting and turning painfully, and the coldness in her body made her feel empty. _"I was so stupid for dreaming."_

* * *

Meanwhile, two theiving calico's were wandering down the stairs into the basement, not knowing they were about to hit the jackpot.

"I was down here earlier, and there's plenty of nice stuff for us to steal," said Teazer with a smile.

"Oh really, what's so good that's worth taking down here, sis?" asked Jerrie, as they opened the door.

Before the two cats were dark skies lit by red lanterns, letting off a warm red glow. Red tiled roofed building with plants in the windows and stone steps leading up to them. Store fronts, food carts, and markets, everything unique and exotic and interesting. People everywhere, selling, buying, walking or riding in carts and rickshaws. The roads were made from cobblestones and seemed almost new, and fences and gardens lined them. In the background you could hear people calling to each other or bartering, music being played from somewhere, and the sounds of the crowded streets; it was almsot overwhelming.

The smell of the food, all so enticing, the calico's almost found themselves drooling.

"Well," begun Jerrie, trying to look at everything as fast as possible. "This 's a useful discov'ry."

"Useful? This 's ama'zin. Io say 'e 'ange our target's," said Teazer, looking around like a kid in a candy store.

"Okay," said Jerrie, nodding his head. "'ow, we 'ertainly ain't in Kansas any'ore."


	22. A few exceedlingly awkward conversations

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS**

**Hey everyone, I'm done with finals, and so I'm gonna have a lot more time to write for the next few weeks. Although I am also trying to do a lot of volunteer work, and I just wanted to encourage my readers to do the same. Go give blood if your old enough, or volunteer in a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. Start a toy or canned foor drive, volunteer at an animal shelter, or find some way to raise money for a meaningful cause.**

**There's lots of things you can do. For instance, I'm going to try and volunteer to make balloon animals at the children's hospital, for one thing. And I'm sure there's lots of things people can do, so be creative. That's why I mentioned the balloon animal thing, because it's kind of unconventional. But maybe if a lot of people thought of ways they could help others, even in unconventional ways, we could all make the world a little better this holiday season.**

**Oh, and for all those who are predicting the end of the world, nothings going to happen. But just to be safe, t****hat day I'm grabbing my emergency food, hunting knives, steel toed boots, water filter, first aid kit, radiation survival stuff, and a few friends, and going to the forest to wait until midnight. Now I just need to find some friends, because the other stuff was easy. But if nothing happens, then we'll go see a movie. If the world does end, we'll go to the zoo and let all the animals loose.**

**Happy holidays!**

* * *

Andrew Llyod Webber found himself kitten sitting. This was quite a predicament indeed. This situation had come about simply due to circumstances completely beyond the playwrite's control, that being that all the Jellicles and humans were busy filling buckets with snow and dumping them into the bathtubs and sinks, in a desperate attempt to get rid of all the snow in the hall.

Of course, Webber was used to children, he had five of his own, his youngest daughter, Isabella, was only about a year old. Of course, none of his kids had fur and tales.

He sat in front of the fireplace with the kittens surrounding him, about 11 in all, give or take a few. He had extinguished the fire and brought in some blankets, but the kittens were still liable to find some way to get into trouble. He had them sitting in a circle so he could read to them, trying to be a distraction from the others who were currently filling buckets with snow.

"And then the first little piggy walked up to the man selling straw, and asked him if he could buy enough straw to build a house. Now, kittens, what do you think the man said back?" said Webber, reading to the kittens.

A little black and white queen with mis-matched eyes shyly raised her paw, and Webber lowered the book and pointed to her. "Yes, um, Lucifee?"

"The man selling straw said, "holy crap, a talk'in pig!" chimed the kitten, looking up at the playwrite, and obviously very proud of herself. She was one of the kittens of Mistoffelees and Jemima, and was just as much of a rascal as her father.

Andrew stared at the little queen, persing his lips as he did so. "This," he sighed, shaking his head. "This coming from a talking cat."

"Hmm?" The little kitten looked up at Sir Webber with curiousity and confusion written on her face, but the playwrite shook his head and said, "forget it, I forgot who I was talking to."

* * *

It took three hours, but finally all the snow was scooped away, and they were able to push the door closed again. The reason why they didn't try to dig themselves out, was because more snow would just fall back inside, and the mountain of snow burying them was too high.

An exhausted Michael Gruber collapsed on the couch, Eva falling onto the couch across from him. Munkustrap followed the two, flopping down on the rug in the middle, too tired to move.

Michael ran his hands through his hair a few times, wiping the sweat off his brow. He didn't do anything for a few minutes, except breathing deeply and worrying about whether or not they were going to get out of there.

Eva wasn't doing much better, her hands were pink from ice burns and she wanted someone to come make a fire so that she could de-frost a little.

For a long time, there was quiet, until Michael, tired of the monotonous silence, decided to ask a question that had been plaguing him for quite some time.

"Hey Munkustrap," he said, the Jellicle turning and looking at him, nodding in response. "I have a question."

Slowly Munk pulled himself up on his arms, stretching only the way a cat can, and then sitting up and looking at Michael, leaning on the coffee table with one arm.

"And that is?" he asked, unsure of what the human could possibly want to know about.

"Well," begun Michael awkwardly, unsure of how to ask this. "You see, I was raised Catholic, and well- I was wondering something. If you Jellicles actually have one of yours reborn every year, and there is an 'Everlasting Cat...' I mean, just how- hhow does that work?"

To this, Munkustrap just laughed, knowing this question would have come up eventually.

"What's so funny?" asked Michael, unsure of what the Jellicle was getting at here.

"Nothing, it's just... I was waiting for one of you to ask that. But seriously, if you really must know, that's our way of relating to the Almighty, at least that's the way I see it. In fact most of us see it that way. But really, besides that, is it really necessary for us to go any further into it?"

"I suppose not, I was just curious," sighed Michael, nodding.

"Well, like we Jellicles like to say, 'curiousity was what opened the box, not Pandora."

"I can't believe that's a saying," said Eva, sitting up, rubbing her arms together for warmth. "I mean, Pandora did open it herself according to the legend, right?"

"Yes," hissed Munk, slightly annoyed. "But it's meant to be a cautionary saying against what curiousity can lead to. And why are we talking about this? Why hasn't someone built a fire? It looks like Eva is shivering herself to death!"

It was true, Eva was freezing, since the heat wasn't on and they had been relying on fires for heat so as not to overwork the generators. Everyone else was off in their repsective rooms or cooking around the hot stoves, so the large empty room was left drafty and cold.

But suddenly, out of nowhere, the trio herd a loud sneeze, and instantly, a large fire came to life in the fireplace.

Upon seeing this, Eva dove in front of it and begun warming herself, her teeth chattering all the time until she could finally feel her toes again.

Both Michael and Munkustrap stared at the fire, completely and utterly blown out of their own minds by the absurdity of this happening.

"Um, Michael?" whispered Munkus, tilting his head to the side. "I think reality just went berserk."

* * *

John Partridge sat in the lounge with Jacob Brent and Tugger, just waiting to be called to dinner. I know, exciting.

"So, that movie, 'The Room.' The acting in it was so bad... so bad, I just couldn't believe something like that could even exist," said John, still in utter shock from the movie.

"I thought I'd seen some bad human films, Turkish films, Serbian horror movies, Bollywood films, Japanese x rated films..." Tugger drifted off as he tried to think of more really bad genres, Jacob raising an eyebrow in disgust and horror at the Jellicle's surprising past with such films.

**(And for the record, I have avoided these genres of film like the plague, so I'm just going by word of mouth. And if I am wrong, remember, this isn't to be taken seriously, so please don't be offended by my broad generalization about these groups of films).**

"Um, Tugger, that's just wrong. I mean, wrong. Ar-are you sure you're gonna be good mate material? Isn't your mind a little too warped?" asked jacob, very surprised that Tugger would look at such trash, and yet strangely not surprised at all.

"No, that would be Admetus, who's favorite movie is Naked Lunch, arguably one of the most trippy, warped films ever made. But this film actually gives us insight into what's wrong with him," said Tugger, sitting up and crossing his arms, having no clue as to where he was going with this argument.

"Verses Serbian horror movies which numb you to the pain and suffering of others, and exist merely to shock and horrify you, while also making messed up peopled laugh." Jacob tried not to laugh while he said this, but he couldn't help feeling that this validated his point, and so he allowed himself a smile.

"I said I've seen a few Serbian horror films, but that doesn't mean I enjoy them. I used to live with a human who liked them. Now Turkish films, those are a scream," said Tugger, fluffing up his main indignantly as he gave a chuckle.

"Oh, and let me say this about Bollywood movies, they're just _really_ different. There's a lot more emotion in them than most of us Westerners are used to," put in John, who had layed back to watch the five-foot-four dancer argue with the giant maned cat.

"Yeah, they're just so over-saturated in emotion. I mean, if one is whimsical, it'll be so damn happy, that it's alienating to people who don't have that mind frame," yawned Tugger, turning over on the floor.

"Okay," said Jacob, about ready to yank the hair out of his head after being teamed up on to explain away something the cat said, which he was fully aware was a complete non-sequitor in any other scenario.

He was about to tell them so, when who should open the door, but Bryn, looking in on the three with his contagious unpleasantness as if that were his only reason for existing.

"So his majesty gave me the unpleasant task of telling everyone dinner is at six, Just so you fa"-"Bryn, if you finish that sentence, I will hurt you," said Tugger, standing up and cracking his knuckles, desplaying is claws as he did so.

Bryn scowled at the threat, but turned away from the door and said, "just don't be late," and then slammed the door.

There were a few moments of silence, until finally John spoke up. "Okay, I know how to fix him. We're going to need a few yards of rope, that racoon-possum thing, Admetus on LSD, and about twelve gallons of shaving cream."

Slowly, Jacob and Tugger turned and looked at the man, their faces contorted in intense confusion, and they couldn't help but back up a bit as they stared at him and his blank expression.

"Yeah, that's what needs to be done, but we all know we're not actually going to," he said, turning to the dancer and the Jellicle, cracking up as he realized they had actually taken that seriously.

**(And if anyone out there took this seriously, go stab yourself with a banana, and then shoot yourself with a pez despenser, because obviously your mindset is extremely warped from what constitutes a rational reality, as if lightbulbs were percupines). **

* * *

In the kitchen, Plato was cooking again, helped by Cori and Elaine Paige, all preparing tuna casserole for everyone. They decided on tuna casserole, so as to avoid another night of the humans vomiting up mouse, which had been declared a giant waste of food by Sir Webber.

Plato was laying out noodles in the baking pans and then scooping layers of tuna and cheese and vegetables onto them, as Elaine prepared the ovens and cleared away dirty dishes as they finished using them.

Elaine had been the very first Grizabella, and had dedicated much of her time to learning more about the character while she was still with the Jellicles. She was very curious, as any person who knows the musical would be, about the relationship between Victoria and Plato, so when she was asked to start preparing the salad, giving her the opportunity to work next to Plato, she was able to ask him a few questions.

"So Plato, tell me, that night Grizabella was sent to the Heaviside Layer, did you and Victoria want to become mates, or was it arranged?" this was probably not the best way to ask that sort of thing, but it was obvious she was trying to be polite about it. Of course this really took Plato off guard, and so Cori stepped up and supplied an answer.

The pyschic did this by sticking his head between the woman and the Jellicle and translating Plato's thoughts, saying "Plato wants me to tell you, that yes, he and Victoria chose to become mates. They were in love, and nobody was forcing them."

"Well that's good to know, but why did Cory answer for you?" asked Elaine, backing up from the two slightly, having been surprised by the psychic tom.

"Plato says he's not only mute, but his hands are busy," said Cory, rolling his eyes as he pointed out that the exasperated Plato was currentingly ladelling another layer of tuna onto the casserole.

"I'm sorry," said Elaine, turning back to the salad she was supposed to be tossing. But she still had a few questions on her mind about Victoria, and about Grizabella and how she related to the white queen and her mate.

After a few minutes of chopping vegetables and adding them to the salad, the old woman sighed and said, "I'm sorry, but I really wanted to ask a few more questions, about Victoria and Grizabella."

At this Plato let out a sigh without turning to Elaine, Cory turning to her insteand and saying, "Plato wants me to tell you, that you are really going to have to speak to Victoria about that, because he doesn't know if he can explain it. You see, it was really personal, what happened between Victoria and Griz. Victoria actually stood up for herself and stopped being so timid and afraid by accepting Griz in front of the whole tribe, and that night was a transformation for her. You're really going to have to go to her about it. I'm sorry."

The older woman looked at Plato with understanding and respect, nodding her head politely. "Thank you, Plato."

* * *

Andrew was totally beat from kitten sitting. After the story, he had had to chase the kittens all over the lodge, until their parents finally came and got them.

He was laying on his bed in the small room on the third floor he had picked for himself, struggling to stay awake as he tried to read a book, but he could barely keep his eyes open.

It had been quite a day, but most likely the moment that took the cake was when Electra's daughter Spotstical started chasing the other kittens with the racoon-possum, and he had to take it away. In fact he still had it; he was planning on giving it to his wife as a souvenir if he got out of this alive.

As he tried in vain to stay awake and concentrate on his book, he suddenly heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," he said dryly, turning his head to see who it was.

Slowly the door opened, and the cat who peeked inside, was a very nervous looking Mungojerrie.

"Um, Sir Webber, Oi thin' ther' is somethin' you roilly need to know," he said cautiously, unsure of how to say this.

"Well what is it?" asked the playwrite, in no mood to beat around the bush. "If it's bad news, just say it and get it over with. You can be blunt with me."

At this the Jellicle looked up and smiled awkwardly, deciding he better just come out and say it. Taking a deep breath, Jerrie looked Sir Webber in the eye and said, "Ther's o Chioise village in the basement."

Webber stared at the calico for a minute, narrowing his eyes in confusion as he attempted to make sense of this new concept.

"Okay," he said, after about a minute of trying to wrap his mind around this. "That exists now, and, and... I suppose we'll just have to get used to a few new neighbors."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed, please review!**


	23. More Drama, and another surprise

**Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!**

**I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update. I have been so busy with school work, actually socializing (I know, me, actually going out and talking to people and even dating *gasp*), and I've also been preparing for an audition for Les Miserables. I didn't get the part though, as the piano accompanist didn't know how to play the song 'At the Ballet' from A Chorus Line, and so he ruined the tempo and I paused several times and was completely thrown off by his playing. Also, I went sharp several times because I was having throat problems that day. **

**But what can you do? I mean, it was my first play audition ever, so I didn't expect to get a role, even as a chorus girl. **

**Once again, sorry about the huge delay. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I promise to update soon? :)**

* * *

Andrew Lloyd Webber stood at the bottom of the stairs and nodded his head in approval as he looked upon the Chinese village, impressed by the look of the place.

"Well, he said, "I must admit, we seem to have a Chinese village on our hands."

It was quite the impressive sight, with the lights overhead dimming as night came and the lanterns coming to life with a gentle glow, it was a place that could only be described as beautiful. But other things were happening as well, as the area itself seemed to be shifting and changing.

For as Webber stood there, right before his very eyes the main street seemed to grow wider and sink deeper, and water from a fountain begun to flow into the middle of the street, slowly filling it. Also, it seemed that a lot of the carts and stalls people were selling things out of were slowly turning into what looked like boats.

Webber stood quietly and watched for a long time, until he heard the sound of someone descending the stairs behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw both Munkustrap and Old Deuteronomy, both looking both serious, and at the same time, completely astonished.

"So- this is... this is it," said Munk, watching the changing city, truly astounded by the sights unfolding before him. Munk had seen a lot of magic, and he was still shocked every time he witnessed it, but this was just an overload. "Father, what do we do?"

Webber turned and looked at the big cat, who's chin rested in his paws as he sat back on a bench and looked upon the city. "Personally, I think we should try and interact with the people. If they're able to see us, then we can attempt communication and perhaps try and exchange goods. If they can't, we can just take whatever we need from the village."

Munkustrap stared at his father in shock, horrified at the idea of interacting with this strange, alien place. Then again, the tom was becoming paranoid being looked in the cabin too long. Maybe having a new place to venture to would alleviate the slight cabin fever?

The tom sighed and shook his head, smiling wryly as he looked up at his father, glad the current jellicle leader was a lot less uptight than he was. "Okay, so who do we send in?" he asked, watching an Chinese woman with a long braid down her back walking along the side of what was now a canal, carrying a tray of roasted guinea pigs on her head.

but suddenly, the trio heard a loud clanging sound from behind them, and they quickly turned to see Coricopat and Tantomile tripping over each other to get down the metal stairs. "Wait!" gasped Cori, looking out at the village with a look of utter shock on his normally expressionless face.

"Everlasting..." begun Tanto, her jaw dropping as she stared at the amazing sights.

There was a long pause, in which Webber, Old D, and Munk waited for the twins to do something. Finally, Tanto slowly shook her head and said, barely audibly, "honey, get the kittens."

* * *

Admetus sat crossed legged on his bunk, laying back with one hand behind his head, holding a green bottle in the other. He had a very large chesire cat smile on his face as he brought the bottle up to his mouth and took a very small sip, shuddering at the extremely bitter taste.

But suddenly, his remarkable cat sense of hearing picked up the sound of someone standing outside the door, and he quickly stuffed the bottle under a pillow right as the door handle begun to turn.

As the door opened and Asparagus Jr begun to step through it, Admetus layed down on the pillow, trying to hide it from Asparagus.

"Hello Admetus," said Asparagus Absentmindedly, as he made his way over to his bunk and begun to search under it for a certain book he had been reading.

"Hey Asparagus," muttered Addie, as he watched Asparagus intently.

But when he said this, it caught Asparagus so off guard, that he hit his head on the bottom bunk as he tried to stand up as he was still looking under it. Standing up and rubbing his head, he looked up rubbing his head, narrowing his eyes at Admetus.

"Okay something is up, that is way to normal of a greeting for you," he said in a no none-sense sort of way.

"What do you mean?" asked Addie, trying to act as innocent as possible, which was almost impossible for him anyway.

Asparagus gave Admetus a good long look, trying to figure out what it was Admetus was keeping from him, when a strange smell caught his nose.

_Sniffs. _"Admetus, what is that smell?" he asked, standing on his toes and grabbing hold of the top bunk so that he could get closer to the source of the smell.

"I...Don't know what you're talking about," stammered Addie quickly, trying to pull back without looking like he was hiding something under his pillow.

But just then Asparagus's nose honed in on the smell, and he realized it was coming from underneath Addie's pillow. "Admetus, what are you hiding underneath your pillow?" he asked, looking at Admetus with one raised eyebrow.

"Nothing," said Admetus quickly, trying to pull back as far away from Asparagus's searching paws as he could. "I don't know what you're talking about, I don't smell anything!" He was sweating profusely by this time, his eyes wide like golfballs and his body shaking in madness as he not only panicked from trying to keep his secret hidden, but the green liquid started to take effect.

"Oh really, well then what is this?" asked Aspargus, as he grabbed the pillow and pulled it out of Admetus's grip to reveal the green bottle. "Why, you've been drinking absinthe!"

"Shut up!" said Admetus, holding the bottle with an iron grip.

"I'm sorry, but you know it gives you hallucinations. I'm afraid I'm going to have to take it away from you," he said this not unkindly, trying to reach for the bottle in as non-threatening a manner as possible.

However, Admetus sprung the moment he saw the paw reaching for it, and he gripped the bottle to his body tightly.

Still shivering, he scooted into the far corner of his bunk, not letting go of his bottle. "My precious. My Preccccc-iiii-ooo-uu-s! We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. And they always comes to steal the precious from us! Nasty little Jellicalses."

Asparagus's eyes slowly grew wide as he watched this pathetic desplay, his jaw opening slightly as he found this situation to be too weird even for him, and he thought he was used to his adopted brother's antics.

"well..." he finally managed, letting go of the top bunk and dropping to the ground, landing on his feet. "I'm glad to see that at least you are normal. I mean, sure, with the way you're acting, there might as well be a rubber nipple on that bottle, but at least you're acting like yourself."

He said this as he inched toward the door, raising his paws and holding them out in front of himself to show that he meant no harm. "I'm just gonna go and look into... the attic," he said, opening the door and slipping through it as quickly as he could. Slamming it behind him, he rushed down the hall, twitching a little himself as he couldn't stop thinking about what he had just seen. "I think the twins are about to have to start a psych ward," he said to himself, high tailing it toward their room.

* * *

Jenny and Bustopher were in the kitchen, arguing over a topic that I probably don't even have to say, because we all know what the only thing Bustopher cares about in this story is.

"Bustopher, I found a large paper wrapper in your room, can you explain?" asked Jenny, holding the paper that Bustopher's fudge stash had been wrapped in.

"I can explain," said Bustopher, holding up his paws and straightening up so as to look more dignified. "You see... You are crazy," he stammered, deciding to try and take the cheapest way out possible.

Hearing this from him was actually shocking, especially to Jenny. There was a long pause between them, as jenny slowly took this sudden change in character in, looking up at Bustopher with one eyebrow raised. "What did you just say?" she asked, very calmly, keeping her expression fixed in a shocked, yet slightly impressed, expression. Although she wasn't impressed, she was merely daring him to say something like that again.

"I... cm," Bustopher mumbled, trying to clear his throat as he looked for a way out of this, but catching the look on Jenny's face, he realized he was trapped, and so why not go out with a bang? He coughed into his fist and then looked at Jenny seriously, wanting to laugh at himself for getting himself into this can of worms. "I just said you were crazy. But more than that, I think you are deranged, wacko, a complete and total...Maniac!" He said, glad to have found the right word.

Of course, Jenny had no idea what to think, and so all she could do was stand there and stare at Bustopher as he tried to continue.

"You are completely paranoid, assuming I'm doing things behind your back, convinced I'm cheating on my diet! Why, that is preposterous, and the fact that you would suspect such a thing only highlights YOUR insecurities, Miss Anydots. And to be blunt, I'd say the reason you obsess over others' weights is because you are conscious of your own. In fact, you see yourself as a regular lard ball!"

At first Jenny just stood there smiling, trying to maintain the position of power she had in knowing that whatever Bustopher said to her was a lie, and that he was just trying to manipulate her. But slowly, she lowered her gaze and her smile faded as she looked down at her body, noticing how round her torso was, and how short and stocky she appeared, and...Everything Bustopher said slowly sank in, and Jenny found herself having to turn around, unable to look at the tom. She tried not to cry, but soon tears poured from her eyes, and she shook all over like she was finally seeing her own body for the first time, even though she couldn't even bare the thought of looking at herself.

Bustopher watched this, and for a moment, his mouth hung open, and he was real quiet. It dawned on him that Jenny really was conscious of her looks, and hearing this from a tom she always admired, was a really harsh blow for the old queen. "Jenny, I... Oh I am so"-"No!" she screamed, clawing madly at the tom as he tried to put a comforting paw on her shoulder. "No! Don't touch me! Don't even look at me!" she said, turning and facing him, her eyes full of hatred for him as well as herself.

Bustopher felt physically sick as he looked into Jenny's face and realized just how much her had hurt her. So sick, in fact, that he didn't even notice when she swiped him across the face with her claws and ran from the room, leaving him to stand there and stare after her, the blood running down his cheek.

* * *

"So, Midniot toniot," said Rumpleteazer, sitting cross legged on a cushion in the library, facing Drew and Jo. Her brother stood by the door and kept a look out, pressing his ear to it and occasionally peeking through the keyhole in the door.

The two Jellicles were just plain tired of putting off their heist, and were prepared to resort to extreme measures to get the humans to agree to help them.

"China tow', it 'ill be ow oysta," said Teazer, smiling devilishly as Drew seemed to be in deep thought and Jo looked offended at the prospect of working with Drew.

"I don't know about this, Cettie might be disappointed in me..." begun Drew, but he stopped when Teazer gave a laugh.

"Oy, you don' know a t'ing. Cettie went 'ith us on a few 'xcersionn in the past. She never go' a thrill from it tho. Bu' still, yo could ge' a noice present fo her," said Teazer, reaching over and playfully pushing Drew with her paw.

"Oh please," said Jo bitterly, "don't encourage it."

The silence that followed was harsh, like ice. Slowly, Drew turned his head toward Jo, narrowing his eyes at her. "Don't encourage what? True love?"

"True love? It isn't na-" Jo cut herself off because she realized saying this could ruin even her professional relationship with Drew, and they needed to have at least some chemistry for the camera.

"I dare you to finish that sentence," said Drew, narrowing his eyes and looking down at Jo like he wanted to spit in her face.

The two dancer's faced each other, both looking like they wanted to rip each others' throats out. Luckily, before any blood was shed, Teazer pushed the two apart, shaking her head in disapproval and letting out strange hissing sounds, as if she were losing it.

"Stop i' right now! We're goin' to pull of' this 'eist whether you two are gettin' along or not. But yo need to work this shit ou' quickly, 'cause frankly Iom tired of dealing 'ith this," said the queen, about ready to take a few good swipes at their faces with her claws.

There was another pause, but instead of the tension rising, Jo just shook her head and started to get up, as if none of it mattered anymore.

"Seriously, Teaze, I can't work with him. I've gotten to know you, I love you girl, but I can't work with him," said Jo, with a touch of regret in her voice. "I mean, I can work on the movie with him, but beyond that, we're done."

And with that she got up to leave, not looking back as she shut the door behind her.

"Well," said Jerry, shaking his head at the whole situation. "Io do think it's toim for 'nother visit from ow dea' friend the phantom."

* * *

The three Siamese kittens were just as shocked as their parents, as they stood at the edge of where the basement ended and the village begun, they held their little paws to their faces in disbelief.

"Well?" asked Webber, having no clue what the psychics or their children were doing, staring at the village, not saying a word, only occasionally giving the others a glance.

"We were right," said Cori, smiling proudly.

"About what?" asked Munkustrap, cutting of Webber as he was about to say the exact same thing.

But before Cori could answer, he looked at Tanto who told him something telepathically, and he nodded and stood aside so that the kittens could answer for him.

Tanto gently pushed the kittens forward, and they stood their with excited looks on their faces as they tried to hold back laughter.

"I don't get it, what's so funny?" asked Webber, raising an eyebrow and turning to Old Deuteronomy.

"What's so funny," begun Indra, the the lilac point, trying to stiffle a giggle, is"-"the village has turned from a rural Chinese town," interrupted Asia, the fire point. "Into"-"Bangkok!" finished Mai, the little chocolate point.

"Wait, what?" Said Munkustrap, completely and utterly confused by this point.

"Bangkok," said Tanto, rolling her eyes. "Cori and I took one look at it and realized it was the city of Bangkok. The capital of what was once Siam and is now Thailand."

"So your saying we have a miniature version of the capital of Thailand in our basement, and you recognize it because that's where your kittens are from?" asked the play write, convinced he had finally lost what was left of his mind.

"Actually, we recognized it because we go there every year for our family vacation," said Cori, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, so now we have the capital of Thailand in our basement, now what?" said Munkustrap, turning to Old Deuteronomy to find that the old cat was rolling on the floor in laughter, and soon all the adults were laughing, for the first time in days.

* * *

**Oh, the drama!**


End file.
